Seal team bravo, p.4
SEAL Team Bravo, page 4
“Move fast. They’re getting nearer. Vince, I have a shooter firing from the mound at my ten o’clock. He’s annoying me.”
“I see him.”
The shot boomed out, and no more bullets came from the rise, but it had been close, and more would open up in seconds. He picked up the pace, sacrificing safety for speed, and two more bullets grazed his helmet before he dropped down next to Vince. Another had taken a slice from the fabric covering of his armored vest. The sniper eyed him.
“We should have stayed at home, Boss. This is one hell of a way to spend Christmas.”
“Yeah. Cover the others. As soon as they get here, we’re away.”
“They may have other ideas.” He pointed at the black figures coming at them in short rushes. Each time they showed themselves and raced nearer, they ducked out of sight before the SEALs could draw a bead on them. Nolan estimated they had little more than two minutes before they were all over them. Bryce and Ryder arrived in a last minute desperate rush, and they lay down in the snow.
Will surveyed the oncoming ISIS and glanced aside at Nolan. “It won’t be easy getting out, Boss. There’s no cover, so we’ll have to run for it. We’re gonna take a few hits, you know that.”
“I know it.”
He looked around, desperate for a way out. There was none, just a wide crevasse several meters away, too wide to cross.
“Stand by. Give them a final burst, and…”
The machine guns had their range, and they had to flatten in the snow to avoid the deadly hail of 7.62mm bullets. He looked around, desperate for an alternative, for a way out. If they stayed where they were, they were dead. If they moved, they were dead. There was nothing.
John-Wesley’s lips were moving, and it took him a second to understand what he was saying. “Those who walk uprightly enter into peace. They find rest as they lie in death.”
He snarled a response. “We’re not dead yet, Ryder.”
The man’s response was a skeptical glance. As if to say, ‘Like hell we’re not.’
There has to be something. Anything. But what?
A few more seconds, and it would be all over. They were fucked.
Chapter Two
“Over here, quickly.”
What the fuck?
He whirled around. The voice came from the crevasse.
Who is it, some kind of a ghost? A trap, maybe, but why bother with a trap? They have us cornered anyway.
He crawled toward the yawning chasm. “Who are you?”
A female voice, good English, and spoken with a strong Arab accent. “I’m the one who can show you a way out. You have seconds before they get here. Do you want me to show you the way out or not?”
It took him about a quarter of a second to decide. “Men, we’re leaving. Head over to the crevasse.”
“What then?” Will asked.
“It looks like we have a guardian angel. We’ll ask her.”
Bryce looked dubious, but when Nolan kept moving, he followed, with Ryder and Vince close behind. He reached the chasm and peered over the edge. A face stared back at him. At first he thought he’d been mistaken; a soldier, complete with Kevlar helmet, snow camos, and an armored vest. The weapon was an assault rifle, a flashback to the hijack on the 737, an AK-47S. He looked again, and this time he made out the face behind the voice. A girl. She hissed an order, “Get down here now! They’re coming.”
No shit, lady.
Bullets kicked up through the snow all around them, and more guns had joined the fun. It wasn’t a question of if, but when, one of the SEALs went down. He took a chance and vaulted over the lip of rock to land on a narrow ledge. Beneath him, the ground disappeared in a dark void. The other men followed him, and when they were all on the shelf, she began racing along the ledge. After about forty meters, a narrow fissure in the rocks appeared, and she disappeared into it.
There was barely enough room for them to squeeze through. He had a bad feeling they could be jammed between the rocks and die like rats in a trap. She was several meters ahead of them, moving like a gazelle, despite the narrow space and her bulky equipment. Then she disappeared. He still suspected a trap, but when he followed, she was waiting.
“Tell your men to hurry. We must get underground before ISIS gets a chance to track the route we’ve taken.”
“Underground? We’re on top of a mountain.”
“You’ll see.”
Will poked his head around the corner. “They’re right behind me.”
“Copy that. Ma’am, we’re ready.”
Without a word, she started moving. A few meters along they came to a dark opening. She squeezed inside, and once again, she disappeared. Nolan found it harder, but he made it through the tiny opening and waited for Will Bryce, who was a big man. The Master Chief made if halfway through and stuck. He grabbed his armored vest.
“I’m pulling you through, Will. Ryder, are you and Merano back there?”
“Affirmative.”
“Give him a push. Hurry, they’re right behind us.”
He heaved, the men outside pushed, and Will wriggled. When it looked hopeless, something gave, and he shot through like a cork from a bottle, cursing.
“Jesus Christ, Boss, if I hadn’t got through, they’d have filled my ass with lead. For a moment there, I couldn’t go move.”
He chuckled “No sweat, we’d have had time to get away while they had their fun.”
Bryce murmured an obscenity, and they moved further into the tunnel, deeper into the rock. The girl who led had switched on a flashlight, and they could see where to put their feet. The passage twisted and turned, corkscrewing through the rock, and they were descending, deep into the bowels of the mountain. At last she stopped in a small, circular cave about four meters in diameter.
A lamp flared, and by its illumination he could look at their surroundings. A bare, natural cave, formed from faults in the rock over thousands of years. Several oil lamps hung down from rusting iron hooks driven into the rock, and she’d lit one of them. It was obvious this wasn’t the first time she’s used the cave.
“My name is Maysoon.”
He stared back at her. She looked like a soldier in miniature, dwarfed by the bulk of her armored vest and the Kevlar helmet. He held out his hand.
“Lieutenant Kyle Nolan, Ma’am, U.S. Navy SEALs. These are my men.”
Her intelligent eyes flicked over them. “You are here for the plane.”
It wasn’t a question. “Uh, yeah, we’re looking for the wreckage. How did you know?"
“My uncle, General al-Noury, mentioned it after you left, but I’d already guessed. Why else would soldiers come to this place? You’re not here for the skiing.”
“Not for the skiing, no. Ma’am, your uncle set us up, you know that.”
She winced. “It was cruel of him. That’s why I came after you. I knew you’d run into trouble when you went up to the plateau. He was hoping you and the ISIS would kill each other, to save him from having to fight a pitched battle. If they get as far as the lodge, his orders are to defend it to the last man.”
“Why is it so important? What’s inside?”
She took off her helmet and brushed her hair back with a deft movement of her hand. She was pretty. More than pretty, a dark, elfin Arab princess. He was surprised she looked uncomfortable at the question. “It’s my fiancé’s harem.”
“Your what?”
“My fiancé, the Sultan of Hermon. His women are in that lodge, his wives, and guarded by soldiers of his personal guard.”
“Your fiancé! What’re you doing guarding the place, shouldn’t you be inside?"
She gave him a small smile. “Not yet, no. Not until we’re married, and that doesn’t take place for another three months. I persuaded him to let me to spend time with his personal guard, that’s General al-Noury’s men, learning the duties of a soldier. I told him it would be useful if I needed to get his other wives to safety in case of an attack.”
“That place doesn’t look able to withstand an attack. What about water supplies and food?”
“There is a well below the building and food stocks in underground storerooms. Inside the wooden exterior the walls are built of stone reinforced with sheets of thick steel.”
“A fortress.”
She grimaced. “More of a prison.”
There was something in her voice that suggested she didn’t see eye to eye with her future husband. “What was the real reason for you joining the soldiers?”
She raked him with her doe-like eyes. “I plan to escape before the wedding. There’s no way I will spend my life with a man I hate. Hidden away behind locked doors, a prisoner to the beck and call of a tyrant, sharing him with eleven other women.”
“Eleven!”
“Yes. That is not all. I wanted to marry another man, but Naser arrested him and sentenced him to death. They beheaded him soon after. I hate him. If I could kill him, believe me, I would.”
A silence descended in the cave. John-Wesley broke it. “And they shall no more offer their sacrifices unto devils, after whom they have gone a whoring.”
His dark, menacing eyes bore into the girl, and Nolan hastened to intervene. “That’s enough, Ryder.” He regarded the girl. “Where can we go from here? Would the Sultan help us locate the aircraft if we aid him to fight ISIS?”
She snorted. “He’d never accept help from outsiders. Naser is convinced his personal bodyguard can handle any attack from inside or outside the Sultanate.”
“From ISIS?” Will said, sounding incredulous, “Does he know what those people can do?”
She grimaced. “He knows little of the outside. The Sultan is convinced his men are the chosen of Allah and can defeat any enemy who comes against them.”
“So he’s an ignorant fool.”
She regarded him with a thoughtful gaze before she replied. “He’s an ignorant fool, and a murderer.”
Nolan felt the operation going down the tubes.
A Muslim ruler deluded by the power of some imaginary deity; the dream of every Islamic crazy who leapt into battle or detonated a suicide vest with the shout of ‘Allahu Akhbar’ on his lips. Death to the infidels, and Paradise but a split second away. Dream on, except this asshole leads a tiny nation to certain death.
“Ma’am, tell me, do you know if the wreckage of the aircraft is up on that plateau?”
Her lips parted in a wide smile. “I know it is not on that plateau.”
“How come?”
“Because I was awake when it came down. I was on the roof of the family house, looking at the stars. I couldn’t sleep, and I saw it descend in flames well to the west of the plateau. I assumed a missile brought it down. The crash occurred about a kilometer away. Nowhere near the plateau.”
“Do you know where?”
“No, I’m sorry. It was dark and snowing heavily. The temperature was beyond cold, worse than I’ve ever known. I went inside and woke up my uncle to tell him an aircraft had crashed. He organized a search party, and they went over every inch of the ground, but even in daylight the wreckage was never found.”
Before he could reply, Vince call softly, “Boss, we have company. They’ve found us.”
She started in surprise. “You’re sure? I didn’t think it would be easy to follow us down here.”
The sniper shrugged. “It wouldn’t have been difficult if you knew what you were doing. We left a trail a blind man could follow. The marks of melted snow on the rock as we passed, and any number of small signs that can’t be too difficult to read. Not that it makes any difference. They’re coming. We have a couple of minutes to get out, no more.”
She nodded. “In that case, I will show you the way. Let them try to follow. They won’t find it quite so easy.”
She dived into a narrow cleft in the rocks, and once again, they had to lever Will Bryce to get him through. The cleft opened up after the first meter, and he was able to get through unaided. The floor descended at a steep angle, but she kept up a fast pace. At one point, the rocky path forked. To one side the going was wider, to the other even narrower. Will gave it a gloomy inspection.
“Don’t tell me we need to get through there.”
“No, but be careful where you put your feet. Can you see the shaft close to where you’re standing?” She played the flashlight on the ground, and he jumped back.
“Damn, there’s no way I want to fall down there.”
“We’re going to climb down. Be quick. We’re running out of time.”
Bryce grumbled, “I should have stayed home. Lady, I hope you know where that shaft leads.”
“This is my home.” She fixed him with a stare, “As a girl growing up in the Sultanate, I had little freedom. I used to come up here with a party to ski, and I’d slip away and explore these caves and tunnels. It became my second home, a place where I could escape the rigid, authoritarian discipline of my family. Don’t worry. We’ll get through.”
She started down the shaft, climbing like a monkey, without using a rope. When he looked down, there were rough-hewn foot and handholds carved in the shaft. It was passable, just, provided you took it real slow. Unless the beasts of ISIS were howling at your heels, in which case ‘real slow’ wasn’t an option.
Nolan swung over the edge, found the first foothold, and started down. Will followed, and Vince and John-Wesley were close behind. He looked up and wondered if they were crazy. Four SEALs, following an unknown young Arab girl down a deep, dark shaft, with a bunch of Islamic lunatics chasing them. His mind went on to autopilot as he descended, and he thought about the future. Leave the U.S. Navy, become a bush pilot, and fly floatplanes, or a charter boat skipper. Chill out in the sun and watch dusky, young, grass-skirted maidens dancing on the beach to the sounds of the surf and the conga drum. The kids could visit as often as they liked, and he'd take long vacations to go visit them. No more ruined Christmases, no more answering questions about how he got the latest scar on his body. No more lying to the kids when they asked him, ‘When will you be back, Daddy?’
He’d be crazy to carry on like this. And yet, he wasn’t doing this just for fun. Becoming a SEAL was a vocation, service to America, to freedom, and a slap in the face to those who would destroy his nation. He also enjoyed it, the thrill, the uncertainty, and the adrenaline rush.
Would I miss it? I don’t know. I just don’t know.
His feet touched bottom, and his leg gave way. He collided with her and grabbed at her body for balance. Her eyes stared back at him, and the surprise turned to something else. Her body was firm, full of youthful strength and fitness, yet what he noticed more was the faint odor from her skin. It was…arousing.
Careful, Nolan. This one’s slated to be the Sultan’s new wife. Do they call them a Sultana? I don’t know.
“Thank you, Ma’am. I’m sorry if I startled you.”
“You didn’t startle me. My name is Maysoon, and I’m a Miss, as you know.”
“Maysoon, yeah. I’m Kyle. Kyle Nolan.”
Their eyes locked for an instant, and then Will was down, to be followed by Merano and Ryder a moment later. They heard shouts from the top of the shaft, and it was clear the enemy were close behind.
“Follow me.” Her voice was a gentle murmur. She was gone again, skipping away through another cleft in the rocks, and they followed.
The pain in his leg was a reminder of the injury he’d sustained, and there was no way he could hide it. He did his best, but knew the limp was bad. When they stopped for a moment’s rest, she knelt to inspect it, despite his objections.
“You have a bad sprain there, Kyle.”
Behind him, he heard Will’s chuckle at her using his first name.
“You need to get it treated. There’s a doctor who is stationed at the Sultan’s lodge.”
“Negative, Ma’am. Er, Maysoon. Our mission is to locate the site where the aircraft crashed. That’s our priority. When we know what we’re up against, I can get my leg strapped up, not before.”
She gave him a curious look. “What is so important about this aircraft? Is it carrying something of great value? Gold, perhaps, secret military equipment, or…a nuclear weapon?”
None of them replied. If any of them stuttered an answer, she’d know the truth. It made no difference. She’d worked it out.
“Is it a nuclear weapon? It can’t be anything else, not to attract military intervention from both sides. My God, is it dangerous?”
He hastened to reassure her. “It’s not dangerous. Unless the enemy get hold of it and decide to use it. A nuclear device exploding could destroy most of the Sultanate, and plunge the region into a nuclear exchange. Enough to turn the Mideast into a radioactive wasteland.”
“So this is what ISIS is so desperate to find.”
“You got it. Now take us out of here, and show us where this aircraft went down.”
The scramble through the tunnels was agonizing. After almost an hour when they came out into the open, his leg gave way, and he pitched into the snow. They rushed to help, and Will lifted him into a sitting position. Maysoon knelt again to look at his leg, and this time, she wouldn’t take no for an answer. She had a small medical kit on her webbing, and she began to wrap a compression dressing around the injury.
“It looks like a fracture, although we won’t know without an X-Ray. Like I said, you need a doctor.”
He wasn’t listening. Ahead of him lay a vast, empty open space, riddled with crevasses, deep fissures in the rock that could have hidden a squadron of nuclear bombers. There was also the lake, covered with a thick sheet of snow-covered ice. A perfect place to hide an aircraft, although she’d said the ice was unbroken the morning after the crash. So it wasn’t there. They’d have to do it the hard way and check out every crevasse, every fissure, for signs of the wreckage.
He looked at the girl. “Where is the town? I understood there’s a ski resort somewhere in the mountains.”
She grinned. “There is no town in the Sultanate of Hermon. Until recently, people lived in a collection of stone houses, with a number of rotting wooden huts, most of them used by smugglers and refugees fleeing from the war in Syria. The development started two decades ago, and they are still in process of building the new town. So far, all that is completed is the Sultan’s palace and a number of buildings in the vicinity. The work is still ongoing, parts of it are a building site.” She pointed to the region beyond the lake, “The palace is there, about a kilometer from the western shore of the lake. When we get nearer, you will see it.”
