 | Part IX – Kingdom Come Babylon, Iraq The heat, always the heat. Troy hated the sandbox as he not so affectionately called Iraq. When he stepped off the plane and his feet touched the concrete tarmac the wind, filled with granules of sand, smacked him against the side of the face causing his cheek to sting. He took it as Iraq’s way of saying screw you to him one more time. Dammit, he thought, I’m back again. Curiously, his mind wandered back to Drexel where he grew up. The harsh climate of Iraq made him miss the quaint town and long for the days of his youth. Quickly he pushed those thoughts aside and walked with purpose a step behind the Colonel. |
As the entire team made their way towards the large metal building before them, a man emerged from the slightly ajar hangar doors and approached the Colonel.
“Colonel Marshall,” said the tall man with a lean face and dirty blond hair, “I’m John Lawson.”
“You work for Pat O’Shea?”
“Yes sir, I’m in charge of the NNSA’s Accident Response Group (ARG). The rest of my team is waiting for us inside. I know you’re in a rush to get to Babylon and secure the nuke but my team wants to go over a couple things really quick. Won’t take more than five minutes of your time.”
“Lead the way, John,” replied the Colonel as he followed behind.
John, true to his word kept the conversation brief and told the Omega Group only what they needed to know about the nuke. Five minutes later the team stepped through the open hangar door and back into the harsh sunlight.
“Fellas, grab the gear from the plane,” said the Colonel.
“Where’s the armored SUV’s the agency promised?” asked Troy.
“No clue,” said the Colonel as he looked around the barren airfield. “We need to grab one of the spooks that work at this godforsaken track of land. They were supposed to meet u when we landed.”
Two camouflaged colored unarmored Humvees were parked close to the hangar. About 50 yards away a two-story concrete building made up the entirety of the complex. The Colonel could see several black Suburbans parked just beyond the concrete structure. A man emerged from the building a minute later and walked toward the team with a timid look on his face.
“We’re looking for our vehicles,” barked the Colonel to the man as he got close.
“They’re right there,” indicated the man as he pointed to the Humvees.
“Can’t be. I was assured several armored Mercedes would be ready for us,” replied the Colonel with a scowl spread across his face, “Not those IED magnets.”
“I don’t know anything about that, sir. I was told those Humvees were for your team.”
“Where the hell is the CIA station chief?” demanded the Colonel. “He was supposed to meet my team here and assist with any help we needed.”
“He got called back to Baghdad on an urgent matter a few hours ago, sir.”
Colonel Marshall was pissed. He knew immediately that the Director of the CIA had dicked him over. They had a love/hate relationship over the years and for the past several it certainly stayed firmly on the hate end of the spectrum.
The Colonel pointed to the two black Suburbans behind the building. “Who do those belong to?”
Shaking his head back and forth the man said, “There’s a HUMINT meeting going on inside with senior agency staff. Those are part of the station chief’s convoy, and for their use only.”
“We’ll see about that,” replied the Colonel, “I need the keys.”
“Not gonna happen, sir. If you’ll excuse me …” answered the man as he turned and trotted towards the concrete structure and away from the team with a look of concern plastered all over his face.
“Sarge,” barked the Colonel as he titled his head towards the fleeing man and arched his eyebrows.
“Got him, boss.”
Terrance moved with lightning fast speed and overtook the man in seconds. With his massive arms wrapped around the man’s neck, he had him subdued and unconscious a few seconds later. After patting him down he groaned and then ran back to the Colonel.
“No keys. Just a 9mm and a cell phone,” said Sarge.
“How we going to get the vehicles now?” asked Sam in a frustrated tone.
Troy looked over at Jesús, “Time for you to work your magic, brother.”
“Gotcha Cap,” responded Jesús as he sprinted towards the two vehicles about 100 feet way.
“What’s he going to do? Hotwire them?” asked Sam in a skeptical tone.
“Precisely,” answered Troy.
“Jesús knows how to hotwire cars?”
“Yes,” interjected Digger, “He was a damn fine car thief back in the days around East L.A.”
“I heard that,” bellowed Jesús from far away, “Don’t forget I was a drug dealer too,” he said over his shoulder.
“You weren’t aware that Jesús didn’t always walk the straight and narrow?” asked the Jackal.
“Not a clue,” remarked Sam as she shook her head, “I thought he was just a good ole’ Christian with a heart of gold.”
“Sometimes you have to dance with the devil before you roll with the saints,” said Troy with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek.
“Man, you guys are all jacked up aren’t you?” asked Sam.
She didn’t get any answers, just a few smirks.
Three minutes later the first SUV pulled up next to the team. “Load up the gear Ese’s,” instructed Jesús with a wide grin on his face as he pointed towards the rear of the Suburban. “I’ll go grab the other vehicle.”
“Good job, Jesús,” said Troy.
“Yup, Jesus saves our asses from time to time,” mocked the Jackal just to yank Jesús’s chain.
“Watch it, Jackal,” replied Jesús as he turned and glared.
Troy looked at Sam whose eyes grew wide, “Jesús doesn’t like the sacrilegious stuff much.”
“Find a weakness, then exploit it,” answered the Jackal.
“You’re such a child,” said Sam as she shook her head.
A couple minutes later Jesús returned with the second vehicle and the rest of the supplies were loaded. The team split equally amongst the two vehicles and left the airfield at Al-Hillah traveling fifteen minutes down Highway 8 towards the ruins of Babylon.
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“Did they arrive?” demanded Ami as the plane touched down.
“Our contact at the CIA facility in Al-Hillah just called to say their plane in on its final approach,” responded Benjamin.
“We must move quickly and load the gear into the helicopter,” instructed Ami.
“The men know.”
“How far behind will we be?”
“At least fifteen to twenty minutes.”
“How about the other men?”
“Martyrs are hard to find on short notice, even in Iraq.”
“Did my men not find any?”
“No, they found a handful. They should arrive before we do. I expect twenty-three men including Rahman and his guards.”
“He won’t be happy when I tell him what’s about to happen,” replied Ami.
“If he wants his nuke bad enough, he’ll have to deal with the reality that awaits us all.”
“Agreed,” responded Ami before he quickly asked, “And how about the four men at the site. Are they ready?”
“They said they were but I think we both know what fate has in store for them.”
“Without question,” answered Ami, “They’ll be slaughtered.”
“Maybe it will slow the American’s down slightly or even one of them may get lucky.”
“Luck is for the poor and the weak,” replied Ami, “A real man doesn’t rely on such mumbo jumbo.”
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The road leading off Highway 8 to Babylon was covered with a thick layer of sand after a storm moved its way across the region overnight. Troy drove the lead vehicle and had difficulty locating the pavement as he raced down the two-lane road much too fast. Only the signs sprinkled along the side of the road sporadically gave him any indication where the pavement ended and the desert landscape began.
Troy had visited Babylon on two separate occasions during his numerous deployments to Iraq. He had done so for the historical significance, but knowing the layout of the area now proved to be valuable.
As the wind continued to whip across the desert landscape the roadway ahead once again became visible as the sand retreated from the asphalt. In the distance, a seven-meter high sand dune blocked the view of Babylon. It also provided Troy an idea; he recalled that the Ishtar Gate stood less than a quarter mile beyond the dune.
“Digger,” he barked into his comms.
“Yes Cap,” came the reply from the vehicle directly behind him.
“There’s a sand dune directly ahead, I need you and Jackal on top of it for overwatch.”
“Roger that Cap.”
Thirty seconds later the two vehicles came to a quick stop at the base of the dune. The Jackal jumped out from the lead vehicle while Digger climbed out of the other and they quickly scaled the steep dune. Within two minutes flat Digger had his M23A2 SWS rifle in place and his first 7.62mmx51mm NATO round chambered. The Jackal maintained a similar pose next to him and used his spotter optics to acquire targets.
Once they were both in position Digger gave Troy the go-ahead to proceed. Troy accelerated the Suburban as the sand flew out from under the back tires and within a few seconds made his way around the dune. The Ishtar Gate became visible as its blue painted bricks provided a splash of color in a dull monochrome palette. Troy saw the man with his hand out and the orange traffic cone in the road the same time as Digger’s voice breached the silence.
“Cap, we got an armed guard two hundred yards ahead blocking the road,” warned Digger.
“Copy that, I see him,” responded Troy as he looked to his right at the Colonel. “We were told no guards, right?”
“Correct,” replied the Colonel whose eyes narrowed as his mouth began to frown. “The Iraqis assured the agency all guards would be ordered to stand down.”
“Then he must be hostile.”
“More than likely.”
“See anyone else visible?” he asked.
“Negative,” responded Digger, “We are scanning the structures nearby. Do you want me to engage the target?”
Troy reached to his right side and removed his Kimber 1911 .45. With a round always chambered he removed the thumb safety and held the gun against his left thigh as he continued to steer with his left hand. “No, I’ll handle him. You guys see if we have any other threats or if we’re driving into an ambush.”
“Roger.”
“You think Ami arrived already?” asked the Colonel.
“Doubt it,” answered Troy, “But it’s highly likely he dispatched a team here to protect the site.”
“No surprise there.”
Troy nodded, “Game time ladies and gentlemen,” as he spoke to the whole team, “Make sure you’re cocked, locked, and ready to rock.”
“Hooah,” he received back from everyone.
Troy slowed as he approached the man whose outstretched hand demanding they stop. The vehicle stood high enough off the ground that the man could only see from the chest up as he approached the driver’s side window. Troy lowered the window and returned the icy glare the man provided.
After years of experience, Troy knew the tell-tale signs to watch for. The eyes, it always came down to the eyes. The guard’s eyes darted to each person in the vehicle and narrowed ever so slightly. Not in a way you assess if something is a threat but calculating how to eliminate an acknowledged threat.
“Ishtar Gate is closed, you must turn around,” commanded the man in broken English. He wore a white helmet, tan uniform, and black boots that looked much too new for an Iraqi soldier. An AK-47 slung across his chest while a large caliber sidearm hung on his right hip.
“You don’t get it bub, we must pass,” answered Troy in a calm, cool tone, “It’s official government business.”
Just then Digger’s voice interrupted the exchange, “Contact, I have three weapons trained on your position …”
The guard’s response was rapid, but still not fast enough. As he reached to his right hip and gripped the handgun that hung to his side Troy raised the 1911 with a lightning quick motion. As soon as the barrel cleared the door trim Troy fired one solitary round. The large .45 caliber round struck the man in the bridge of his nose and left a dime-sized hole in his face. When the hollow-point round emerged half the back of his head exploded. The sound inside the vehicle was nearly deafening.
Suddenly, rounds began hitting the front grill of the armored Suburban and traveled up the hood. Troy rolled up the window and mashed the gas pedal to the floor. Successive bullets struck the front hood and smacked into the bulletproof windshield splintering the polycarbonate but not breaking the toughened glass.
“Anytime fellas,“ hollered Troy as the engine whined and the vehicle accelerated.
Digger fired one round after another. Within five seconds the three shooters were neutralized.
Both Suburbans came to a screeching halt before the Ishtar Gate as the team jumped out and took up defensive positions not knowing what other threats they may face.
“We clear?” asked Troy into his comms.
“Roger that, Cap,” responded Digger from overwatch.
“Then double time it and get your asses to the gate,” he demanded.
The Colonel stood at Troy’s side as both men’s eyes scanned the area for hostiles.
Troy reached over and rubbed his fingers against the rough pock marks splattered across the smooth hood. “Glad we didn’t take those POS Humvees the spooks left us.”
With a visible grimace, the Colonel replied, “The Director and I will have fierce words when I get back to DC.”
Troy nodded before he barked, “Move out everyone, and stay alert.”
With his HK416 pointed forward, Troy led the group as he approached the left side of the structure. He immediately noticed the large stone blocks that Naseefa had described. They were huge sandstone blocks that made up the wall constructed by Saddam on top of the existing Babylonian antiquity wall. A large gap big enough to place a finger inside ran along the top of each three-foot-square block. In many places, the gap had been filled by papers and stones stuffed into the slits by tourists and locals.
It took a couple passes but Troy ran his finger inside the third block and finally felt the two locking pins set several inches back hidden inside the stone. With both index fingers inserted he simultaneously pushed the two pins and a metallic click sound indicated the mechanism keeping the block in place disengaged. His fingers gripped the smooth stone, and it easily swung towards him revealing a blackened shaft that led underground.
Digger and the Jackal arrived just as Troy shined his flashlight into the abyss.
“Someone hold onto me so I can get a better look,” said Troy as he lowered his head and torso into the shaft. He abandoned the flashlight and instead flipped down his GPNVG optics and used an IR illuminator to boost the light. Terrance and Jesús each held tight onto his legs as Troy looked down the long tunnel bathed in a greenish hue.
“What’s it look like?” asked Sarge as they pulled him back up.
“Not much,” replied Troy as he stood up and felt the blood rush out of his head. “It appears to be at least a hundred feet long and dead ends right here. Metal ladder rungs lead down to the ground. Looks like there’s a locking mechanism in place so the hatch can be sealed from the inside.”
“What’s at the other end of the tunnel?” asked Sarge.
Troy shrugged his shoulders, “Guess we’re about to find out.” He then turned to his right and locked eyes with Harry, “Need you to stay topside and watch our six, ok?”
“Copy that, Cap.”
“If you see anyone coming towards the gate let us know.”
Harry nodded.
“Everyone else, follow me, you’ll need your NVG’s and IR illuminators,” said Troy before he paused, “Oh, who’s got the cooler?”
“I got it,” answered the Colonel as he patted the blue Igloo cooler.
“Won’t get far without that.”
They made their way down the ladder rungs one at a time with Troy taking the lead.
Jesús paused for a moment and bowed his head before he started down the opening.
The Jackal saw him and muttered, “Hope you mention me in your chats with the man upstairs,” with a smirk.
“Always brother,” answered Jesús then added with a wink, “For you more than the others,” before he quickly disappeared down the hole.
“Ladies first,” said the Jackal. He swung his arm out towards the opening as Sam sidled up next to him.
“Well … aren’t you just a gentleman,” she responded with an exquisite southern drawn rolling off her tongue. Next thing he knew she crouched down, grabbed a hold of the top of the shaft and swung her body over the opening dropping straight down to the darkness below. Her movements were like an elegant dancer as she twisted her body and slipped flawlessly out of sight.
“Show off,” whispered the Jackal as he shook his head slightly. Damn, that girl is hot, he thought to himself as he watched her disappear.
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As the helicopter quickly gained altitude and climbed into the gleaming Arab sky Ami felt a slight tap on his leg. He looked at Benjamin who touched his hand to his headset and then put up two fingers. This indicated that Ami needed to switch to channel two. Whatever he needed to say, clearly, he didn’t want any of the others in the helicopter to hear. Rahman Salek had his back to both men so it wouldn’t be a problem keeping him out of the loop.
“Yes?” asked Ami.
“Our men at Babylon just made contact with the Americans?”
“And?”
“As expected, the one manning the checkpoint didn’t last long.”
“What about the others?”
“They engaged the two vehicles that approached but the call ended abruptly with an immense amount of gunfire.”
“Have you called them back?”
“No answer. I tried repeatedly but…”
Ami shook his head, “They’re dead. What about the other team? Did they make it?”
Benjamin’s gesture indicated no, “They hit a roadside checkpoint south of Baghdad. Made it through ok but it caused a delay.”
“When will they arrive?”
“Just about the same time we’ll land,” he then looked at his watch and added, “In about fifteen minutes.”
Ami was quiet for a moment as his mind considered the options. “We’ll need to flush out the Americans before they can secure the nuke and bring in reinforcements.”
“Agreed. Do you want to gas them?”
As he considered the question Ami knew the answer. A team that could make it into his compound and steals critical info would be not only well disciplined but highly prepared. “No,” he replied, “They’re sure to have masks. We’ll have to rely on superior firepower.”
“I suspect marksmanship will be in their favor.”
“True,” answered Ami, “That’s why we’ll send in the Iraqis first. They’re dispensable.”
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The ground sloped downward with a steep grade from the moment they entered the pitch-black tunnel. As the team reached the end Troy put his hand up to motion everyone to hold up. With two quick gestures, he indicated he wanted Terrance and Jesús to check the left and right side of the opening. They moved in rapid steps and both swung out in tandem while in low voices, both replied “Clear.”
The team continued to move forward with the Jackal and Sam on their six. With two long hallways that closely formed the shape of an X the complex had a series of rooms that lined each passageway. In the very center of the X, the schematic showed the vault. With quickened paces, the team cleared each of the eight room they encountered and moved forward before reaching the center room.
A large forty-foot by forty-foot room with ceilings close to fifteen feet high greeted them as they stepped into the room. The four hallways that made up the facility extended out from the corners of the room. A sense of relief spread across Troy as he immediately took note of the vault precisely where the diagram said it should be. As they approached the vault door, the team kept at least one gun on each of the three remaining halls they hadn’t cleared.
Troy approached the vault first, he noticed a control panel with a dusty digital keypad and biometric hand pad to the right of the door. The stainless steel rounded vault door was massive and had a polished five spoke handle. It looked like one of those doors one would find in the basement of an old bank in NYC during the early 1900’s. Clearly not something anyone expected to come across under a four-thousand-year-old archaeological site. How the hell did they even get this door down here, thought Troy as he shook his head in amazement.
The Colonel handed him the blue Igloo cooler, “Open her up and make sure the nuke is inside, we need to keep moving,” he said. “We’ll split up and clear the remaining three hallways.”
Troy nodded as the team quickly disappeared down the three darkened hallways. He put the cooler on the concrete floor and flipped open the lid. There in a greenish light, he saw Naseefa’s severed hand. He picked up the cold to the touch clammy hand he had cut off just below the wrist. Touching dead bodies never bothered Troy, but for an unknown reason holding the hand within his own seemed awfully unnatural at the moment.
With his left hand, Troy entered the twelve-digit code 0-7-1-1-1-5-2-1-2-8-3-5. The light above the keypad flickered green and stayed that color as the code was accepted. Next, he placed Nasseffa’s hand on the keypad. A digital scan head passed under the glass and registered the handprint pressed against the surface. The second green light illuminated and a deep metallic clang and cranking sound indicated the metal cylinders retreated from the door frame. With a dull thud at the end, Troy knew the door could be opened.
Troy stepped to the center of the door and turned the five spoke handle counter clockwise and heard the hiss of pressure being released from the vaults seal. He then pulled the heavy door as it began to pivot open and creep toward him. Giving it a firm tug momentum took over and the door fully opened. Troy looked inside the vault chamber and saw the prize.
The nuclear warhead sat in the center of the space in a custom designed cradle. A second cradle next to it sat empty. Troy stepped inside and stood next to the device. His mind raced back to years before when he stood inside a vault not much different from where he found himself. At the time when he was younger, a similar size nuclear weapon greeted his eyes. For some, it would be a thrilling moment but for Troy seeing another warhead brought back only memories of pain and loss. He never wanted to see another weapon of mass destruction as long as he lived.
As he stood there and stared at the weapon for a few minutes, the rest of the team returned from clearing the facility and entered the chamber.
“All clear,” said the Colonel, as he whistled noticeably and stepped into the vault. “Damn, that’s a big ass nuke.” As he spoke he could see the anguish spread across Troy’s face. “You did good, Cap. Really good.”
“Yes sir,” answered Troy, “The whole team did.”
Terrance stepped close to Troy and put his hand on his shoulder. “Not many people get to find one of these things in their lifetime, let alone two.”
Troy shook his head, “Tell me about it. A dubious honor I wish I didn’t hold.”
The Jackal walked up to the weapon and without warning climbed on top of it with a full straddle and started his best impression from Dr. Strangelove. Taking off his helmet he waved it around and let out a few “howls” and “yee-haws” as he gyrated wildly much to the amusement of everyone on the team. Even the Colonel who normally appeared ever so stoic managed to crack a wide smile.
Quickly he returned to his grumpy self after the Jackal carried on for a little too long, “That’s enough, get your skinny ass off the thermonuclear device before you somehow activate it and blow us all to kingdom come.”
The Jackal climbed off it and added, “I always wanted to do that ever since I was a little boy.”
“And I’m sure you’ve done worse,” said Digger.
The Jackal smiled from ear to ear, “Ahh, you remember the story I told you about what I did in every single one of Saddam’s palaces?”
“Sadly, yes,” answered Digger, “Will never get that mental image out of mind either.”
“I don’t want to know,” interjected Sam as she raised her hands up to stop Digger from going any further.
The banter and lightheadedness disappeared in an instant as Harry’s voice caused everyone’s muscles to tighten.
“We have several vehicles approaching at a high rate of speed and also a chopper flying low which appears to be landing.”
“Ami?” asked Troy.
“Not sure,” answered Harry, “But whoever it is I’m pretty sure they spotted me.”
“Get down here, close the hatch, and lock it from the inside,” commanded Troy, “We’re in the middle room inside the vault.”
“Copy that,” answered Harry, “On my way.”
“We need to seal the vault and set up defensive positions,” instructed Troy. “Find anything you can to give us cover. Meet back here in four minutes.”
Troy knew Ami could be ruthless and had access to even greater firepower than the Omega Group. So, he knew they had to fight smarter, not harder. One of the packs they carried underground contained over twenty-five pounds of M112 (military grade C4) and dozens of detonators. As half the team gathered and arranged obstacles the others strategically placed the blocks of plastic explosives throughout the three hallways they just cleared.
As Troy pushed the vault door shut and engaged the locking mechanism something concerned him. Indecisiveness was something Troy never struggled with in life. Planning came naturally to him from an early age and when he formulated a strategy more times than not it proved to be exactly the right decision. But, a voice within him welled up and convinced him to change tactics. Ami’s gonna come at us with everything in his arsenal, he thought, And what if it’s too much? Troy’s mind raced, RPG’s, grenades, who knows what other explosives he will use that could inflict serious damage on us. We need to be proactive, not reactive.
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Rahman Salek could be left in the dark no longer. A few minutes before they landed in Babylon Ami told him the Americans were making a play for the weapon. As expected Rahman responded with rage when Ami admitted to misleading him. However, Ami cared not, and he made it clear that if Rahman wanted the weapon, they would need to deal with the Americans in order to secure the device. As usual, Ami lied when Rahman questioned what awaited them. It became such a habit over the years even he had difficulty separating fact from fiction in his own mind. He assured Rahman they had superior numbers and could defeat the Americans. Ami was correct; they held a three to one advantage in regards to sheer bodies available. But the comparison meant little since Ami knew the enemy they faced could fight off a small army given the right conditions. Pride stood between Ami’s intellect and reasoning abilities and he couldn’t just walk away. Letting the Americans retrieve the weapon would be an unacceptable outcome in his mind.
By the time Ami and his men arrived at the Ishtar Gate there was no sign of the American soldier his men spotted as they landed. As his men converged on the gate, they discovered the hidden entrance on the right side had been locked from the inside. It mattered not since Ami knew of other ways to enter the subterranean structure. It did mean that the team would be prepared for their arrival and were guaranteed to be ready for any onslaught. Ami had some tricks up his sleeve and convinced himself they could get the upper hand.
“Bring all the gear,” instructed Ami.
“All of it?” asked one of his men. “It’s quite heavy.”
“Yes, and it may very well save our asses today.”
Two hundred yards past the gate Ami located the hatch he used one time he visited the site with Naseefa. He brushed away the sand that covered the opening and shielded it from prying eyes. Next to it, a metal cover hid a keypad. Ami flipped it up and entered the six-digit number. After the locking mechanism disengaged one of his men pulled open the heavy steel hatch. It gave a loud creaking sound as it slowly opened. Looking down into the abyss their eyes saw only darkness.
“Either they haven’t located the lights or they are choosing to operate in the shadows.”
“We need every advantage we can take,” replied Ami, “And using optics will only aid the Americans. They are experts at being silent warriors and thrive in this type of realm. Once inside we must turn on the lights, using the NVG’s during the battle will put us at a strategic disadvantage.”
“But if we turn on the lights they’ll know we’re here.”
“Trust me, that’s already the case.”
One after another the men climbed down the ladder that led to the passage below. Once everyone made it down Ami followed behind and shut the hatch. He did so as quietly as possible but it still made a dull thud that echoed down the hallway. At the bottom of the ladder, Benjamin stayed close to Ami.
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As soon as everyone came back Troy briefly stated his concerns about the defensive position they erected. The team trusted him implicitly and if he asked his brothers-in-arms to rush the gates of hell itself they would do so without hesitation or care for personal safety. Their bond cemented, and their fates intertwined.
“Your call, Cap,” replied the Colonel. “If that famous gut of yours is acting up, I for one say we listen to it.”
The others, including Sam, nodded.
Troy felt certain the hunted needed to become the hunters.
The sound of the distant hatch opening alerted Troy and the rest of the team that the battle would start soon.
“We’re not alone … they’re here,” he said, “Get ready and watch for my signals.”
Positioned directly in front of the vault door Troy had several thick stainless desks aligned to provide him the best cover he could while also being able to maintain a visual on his team. He said a quick prayer and as always asked not for his safety but for his men. His brothers came first. Always.
Two minutes later a distinct thud sound reverberated down the hall at the ten ’o’clock position from where Troy crouched. The sound revealed which hallway Ami’s men used to enter the subterranean facility. He gestured for the rest of the team with his hands and indicated which direction the assault would come. Then it became a waiting game. Troy had no line of sight down the hallway but Digger had the perfect angle.
Troy broke radio silence to give quick instructions in a whisper to Digger. “Ami will lead from the rear, those expendable to him will come first. Take them out so we can thin the herd.”
“Copy that,” answered Digger.
Everything became eerily quiet.
With a keen eye, Digger saw movement half way down the hall and made two clicks on his comms. That was the signal for the Jackal who had the detonator in his right hand. As soon as he heard the clicks, he squeezed the handle tight and depressed the black button on top.
A loud explosion and the subsequent shock wave carried down the hall as dust and debris spewed into the large room. Hearing groaning and screams Troy stood up and led his team towards the opening.
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The wave of energy reverberated down the narrow hallway striking Ami in the chest and knocking his feet out from under him. He landed with a dull thud flat on his back. Dammit, he thought as he hit the cold, hard concrete. He never saw it coming. Ami expected the American’s would dig in, use defensive methods to combat his men’s attack, but not go on the offensive. I should’ve known better, he thought.
Up ahead he heard groaning but could see nothing since the force of the explosion knocked his optics from the top of his head. As he rolled over to his hand and knees, he began frantically feeling along the cold concrete for them. Shards of metal and concrete punctured his skin and gouged his knees as he moved around. Then he remembered the light switches he passed a few feet away on the wall.
Two firm hands grabbed at his collar and a strong grip pulled him almost to his feet.
“Ami, are you ok?”
Even with his head spinning, Ami recognized the voice. “Yes, I think I’m ok,” he answered.
“Good,” replied Benjamin, “We need to find shelter in one of these rooms.”
“No,” responded Ami with a forceful tone, “Push the men forward.”
“But…” Benjamin replied.
Ami would hear none of it, “Now,” he demanded as he moved forward much to the chagrin of the man at his side. In the pitch black, he slipped on a pool of blood that filled the center of the hall from the bodies littered all over the floor and fell once more. Four of the Iraqi mercs took direct hits from the plastic explosives when they detonated. There was little left besides chunks of flesh and a few intact limbs and torsos. Benjamin located the optics and handed them to Ami as he rose to his feet once more.
Crouched down on all fours Rahman Salek appeared bloodied but miraculously had not sustained any life-threatening injuries. Ami approached him. Both of Rahman’s bodyguards were dead.
“Get in this room,” growled Ami as he pulled Rahman’s arm and led him to the doorway. “Stay in there until I come for you and if anyone besides me or my men enter, shoot them in the head.”
Rahman looked to have suffered a concussion by the force of the explosion but he shook his head and acknowledged the instructions. “Ok,” he muttered as his eyes rolled around in his head.
“Lights … turn on the lights,” demanded Ami as he turned back.
“Are you sure?” asked Benjamin.
“Just do it,” he hissed. “These men are much better when the lights are out. We need to mount an offensive and the darkness is no longer our ally. Grab the RPG’s and follow me.”
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Troy and his team arrived at the far end of the room with their back pressed up against the wall. Everyone knew the drill. Keep Ami alive, at all costs. Troy knew this severely tied their hands and limited how they could respond. He also knew Ami would have no such restrictions. Playing by a different set of rules always stoked the fire within, it helped feed the rage that at times simmered just below the surface.
With a couple hand gestures, Troy directed the team to move down the hallway and face Ami’s force head on. As he shifted away from the limited safety afforded by the wall his body froze as a distinct hum emanated all of a sudden from the ceiling. Just like that the room was bathed in incandescent light as the fixtures through the room and up and down the hallway suddenly came to life. With the lights back on Troy and the rest of the team pressed themselves back again the wall and flipped up their night optics. Clever, thought Troy, Levels the playing field a little bit. Smart move Ami. He considered shooting out the lights but knew it wouldn’t be feasible.
Terrance stood across from him against the wall on the other side of the opening. He shrugged his shoulders and mouthed the words, What do we do now? While at the same time he brought his finger across his neck in a quick motion.
Troy shook his head indicating no. There would be no turning back, they must move forward. As he gave hand signals to begin the offensive push, a deafening explosion reverberated down the hallway. The distinct sound followed as the warhead careened towards them. Instinctively they all turned toward the wall and crouched low to expose the least amount of their flesh to the destructive ordnance as possible. The 93 mm HEAT warhead screamed through the room and struck just to the left of the vault door back behind their position. Pieces of hot, jagged metal littered the room but caused no injury to the team.
“Now,” said Troy knowing a tit-for-tat exchange of explosives between the two forces would only result in loss of life or serious injury. He had to stop the carnage before it could begin.
The Jackal and Terrance stood on opposite side of the doorway that led to the hallway and when the signal came in unison, they each threw two flash bangs as far as they could down the hall. The canisters clanged against the concrete floor several times followed by four successive explosions. With weapons raised the Omega Group members flooded into the hallway and began to acquire targets.
Three men staggered in a dazed fashion about a quarter way down the hall. With three round bursts fired rapidly from multiple weapons the men were struck and crumpled to the ground. Two other bodies lay close by on the ground, one of them twitching and convulsing. Subsequent shots stopped the one body from moving while insurance rounds were pumped into the others to ensure no threat existed as they moved forward.
No other targets appeared down the hallway. Clearly, the rest of Ami’s men took shelter in the rooms that dotted the hallway. Troy knew they needed to clear each room and do it before Ami’s team could respond.
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Before the second RPG could be fired the four flashbangs detonated about twenty feet away from Ami and Benjamin. As the stun grenades went off Benjamin shielded Ami from the blast then quickly shoved him into an adjacent room. The remaining men fighting for Ami took cover in the various rooms up and down the hallway and less than ten of them remained.
“We stay in here we die,” muttered Ami in a livid tone as Benjamin pushed him into the room against his will.
Benjamin couldn’t disagree with the sentiment but he also knew death would greet them much faster if they remained out in the open.
“What do you suggest? If we step outside this door we’re dead already.”
Ami knew what was said made sense so he shook his head and tried to clear his mind. Then it occurred to him, “Use the corner shot. Take out as many of them as you can. I’ll radio the others to use their grenades.”
With a nod of his head, Benjamin knew he had no choice but to obey.
Using the relative safety of the room he stood a foot away from the doorway and adjusted the angle, cocked the weapon, and prepared to fire. Killing the Americans was not his intent but at the same time, he couldn’t refuse the order to shoot. As he extended the weapon around the door frame, his viewfinder located a target. With two quick pulls of the trigger, the man dropped, and he swung the weapon to the right slightly and took aim at the next soldier. The bullseye settled on the chest but before he could pull the trigger a barrage of bullets struck the door frame and hit the weapon dislodging it from his hands and rendering it useless as several rounds struck the barrel.
“One down,” he yelled for the benefit of Ami as he drew his sidearm.
“Rush the hallway,” screamed Ami into his radio, “Use the grenades.”
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Digger saw the black metal protrude from the distant doorway but didn’t react fast enough. By the time he realized it was a corner shot weapon the two rounds went Pop, Pop. It felt like a sledgehammer hit him directly in the solar plexus one after another. With the wind knocked out of him, he fell to the ground and grabbed at his chest.
Sam and the Jackal watched him drop as they each unloaded full mags into the doorway where the shots were fired.
As he lay on the ground and gasped for breath Digger felt like an elephant lay on top of his chest. He sustained many injuries in his ten years with the military but getting shot hadn’t made the list. Fortunately, his body armour saved his life as both rounds struck squarely in the middle of the protective plate. But it still hurt like hell.
Harry stood over him a few seconds later and checked his vitals before leading him back towards the end of the hallway.
“I’m fine,” responded Digger in quick, short breaths as he tried to break free of Harry’s arm wrapped around his waist.
“Like hell you are, you just took two in the chest.”
“And if we don’t stay in the fight the next rounds may find soft tissue. We push through and we end this just like Cap said. I’m not part of the “B” team after all.”
Troy, Terrance, and Jesús entered the first room and after a brief exchange, the three men they encountered died with rounds to their heads. It took them less than thirty seconds to secure the room. Next, they proceeded back out and quietly made their way down the hall to the next room.
Sam, Colonel Marshall, and the Jackal entered their first room as two grenades rolled across the floor towards them. In unison, they dove behind a large stainless steel examining table to their right and pulled it down as a shield. A second later the explosion ripped through the middle of the room. Shrapnel riddled the outside of the table with a series of clanging sounds but didn’t penetrate the thick steel. Ami’s two men who tossed the grenades stood no chance as the trio popped up from behind the table and cut the men down one after the other. They were down to three rooms to search and felt certain one of them must contain Ami.
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As Troy stood outside the next room he gave a nod to Terrance and they both threw flashbangs inside and counted to three. As soon as the two back-to-back explosions went off, they rushed into the room with Jesús on Troy’s six.
Troy heard the shot before he felt it. His arm felt a burning sensation as a twinge of pain shot up his arm. His mind immediately recognized he’d been hit. Wasn’t the first time, and he doubted it would be the last. He still gripped his weapon tightly and engaged the person on the far end of the room that fired the shot. With a three-round burst to the face, the man dropped in a heap. Another man lay on the ground stunned since one of the flash bangs exploded at his feet. Terrance drilled him with a burst from his rifle and Jesús took out the third man in the corner who managed to get off a few rounds that sailed above Sarge’s head.
Clearing the room, they moved back towards the door. Then Jesús saw the beads at the end of Troy’s elbow that fell to the ground in crimson droplets.
“Cap” he called out as he reached for his friend, “You’ve been hit.”
Troy shook his head, “Just a flesh wound, round went through-and-through near the bicep. I’m fine. We need to push on. Only a few rooms to clear and Ami must be in one of them.”
They stepped outside into the hallway and met up with the others. Two rooms remained. One much closer to the right, and the other at the far end of the hall on the left. With hand gestures, Troy indicated he wanted Sam, the Colonel, and the Jackal to take the closest room.
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Ami heard sporadic bursts of gunfire and multiple explosions but knew based on the sound it mainly came from the Americans. The HK416’ favored by the American special operation groups made a distinct sound and Ami had a keen eye for distinguishing one weapon over another. He correctly assumed most his men had been slaughtered. Their likelihood to get the nuclear weapon slipped by as each spent shell casing struck the cold concrete floor. With a steely resolve, he grabbed a vest from the black duffel bag near the door and put it on. Benjamin had never seen it before but once he noticed what it was his heart sunk.
“I can’t be taken alive,” proclaimed Ami as he zipped up the vest and toggled a switch on the black cigarette shaped box attached to the top right. In his hand, he held a detonator.
Benjamin’s mind raced, he never took Ami for being a martyr. Ami cared for one person and had one singular cause, and that was himself. He simply couldn’t grasp that Ami would choose such an action. “You can’t go out like that,” he pleaded, “You’re a survivor.”
“We either recover that nuke, or we don’t make it out,” said Ami with clear conviction. “And if I die in a blaze of glory the American’s will pay with their lives. Millions of them will suffer for the sins of their government. Their blood will be on the filth that leads the agency, not me.” He noticed the concern displayed in Benjamin’s eyes. “Why? Are you afraid to die?” questioned Ami with a grim look spread across his face.
Benjamin’s mind raced. The ante just got raised to a level far beyond his expertise. “Of course not,” he replied.
“Good then we finish this and hit them with everything we have left,” he said as he raised his assault rifle and held it with his right hand while the left gripped the black cylinder shaped detonator.
Realizing there was no way he could warn the American’s Benjamin knew his only chance to avert a nuclear disaster lay in keeping Ami alive somehow.
“Throw two grenades,” added Ami, “Then we rush the hallway and give them hell.”
Benjamin tried to step in front of him but Ami pushed him aside, “Me first,” he stated.
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Metal striking concrete makes a distinct sound. Troy heard it before he noticed the two spherical objects clang across the ground and roll in their direction.
“Frag out!’ he screamed. As the entire team took cover where there really wasn’t any to find since they were all out in the open. Best they could do was dive into the closest room. Most of them moved fast enough before the two explosions ripped through the hallway. Troy didn’t have the time and would never take shelter before his folks found it first. He turned away from the grenades while he pressed his body as tight to the wall as he could. The deafening sound so close rattled his fillings while shards of metal struck the wall all around him, but aside from a few fragments sticking him in the back and lower leg he escaped without serious injury.
At once, he spun back around towards the opening where the grenades were lobbed as two figures emerged from the door. He recognized Ami in a fraction of a second as he watched the gun he held sweep towards him. Troy didn’t hesitate. He put the first three round burst into the ball of Ami’s shoulder while he placed two more shots into each kneecap. Ami screamed out in pain and fell forward, his left hand suspiciously extended.
Right behind him, a second person emerged. Troy recognized the face and knew it was the asset he encountered the day before at Ami’s compound. He hesitated to take the shot even though the man held an assault rifle. The weapon didn’t raise and Troy wasn’t about to shoot the man who provided them with so much intelligence.
Digger and the Jackal stepped out from the shelter they found in time to watch as Troy fired the second round into Ami’s kneecap. As he hit the ground and the other man stepped out behind him neither one hesitated when they saw the weapon he held. With lightning fast trigger pulls they both put a burst into the man’s chest. With Troy’s weapon raised before them they had no shot at the man’s head.
Troy watched as the asset grabbed his chest. He yelled cease fire but knew in an instant it was already too late.
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Benjamin felt the very life get sucked out of him as the multiple rounds tore through flesh and bone and left him with a searing pain that spread out from his chest in every direction. He wore a flak jacket but two of the rounds struck where no Kevlar covered his chest just below his collarbone. As he fell forward, he saw Ami’s extended hand and finger precariously close to the detonator. With the ground fast approaching Benjamin took his arm and swatted at Ami’s hand in one quick motion. He connected and hit hard enough to dislodge the trigger from Ami’s grip as it fell to the ground out of reach.
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The Colonel, Harry, and Jesús cleared the last room. Inside they found Rahman Salek cowering in the corner crouched down rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet as he let out a high-pitched scream. His hands raised high in the air as he started hysterically saying, “Don’t shoot me, please don’t shoot me. My father, he’s a powerful man.”
“I know who your father is,” replied the Colonel who had learned his identity on the flight from Accra to Iraq. “And he’ll pay dearly if he ever wants to see you alive again.”
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The Jackal approached the two bodies that lay about twenty feet down the hall. Sam followed close behind him as they rushed forward. Several steps behind came Troy. An echoing scream from down the hall distracted the Jackal and his head turned back towards the sound.
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Ami’s body had accelerated into shock and his limbs screamed out in horrific pain as he lay on the ground in torment. Benjamin landed just in front of him and blocked both his assault rifle and also the way to blow himself up. He couldn’t even see the Americans with Benjamin directly in front of him blocking his line of sight. As his body slipped into a state of shock he kept telling himself, I can’t let them take me alive. Ami’s right shoulder burned with a searing pain he never felt before and he knew it would take all his strength to reach out with his left hand and reach for the detonator.
Lying flat on the ground, his neck craned to the left where his eyes made contact with Benjamin. A few seconds passed, and he saw the blank expression on Benjamin’s face change as he seemed to come to life and blink repeatedly as his face contorted into a grimace.
“Traitor,” hissed Ami knowing the man he trusted betrayed him and knocked the detonator away.
A slight smile formed at the corner of Benjamin’s lips as blood seeped through his teeth. With great effort, he mustered the strength to reply, “You’ll live … which means the bomb won’t go off … I’ve saved you and that’s all that matters.”
“They won’t take me alive,” answered Ami in a defiant tone. Digging deep he reached over Benjamin’s body and grabbed the rifle. The detonator was too far away and he knew no matter how far he reached he couldn’t grab it before the men rushing towards him arrived. He raised the weapon, pointed it at the closest person in his field of vision, and pulled back on the trigger.
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Sam saw the arm reach over the larger body and grip the assault rifle. In one smooth motion, the weapon raised and took dead aim on the closest person that approached. Sam didn’t think, she didn’t have time to do anything but react. She knew if she hesitated the Jackal may die. Only one part of the man on the ground was exposed. His face and she knew the shape of the face all too well. Ami had unmistakable eyes and facial features. Sam knew the orders, Ami must be kept alive at all costs. But did that include losing one of their own? She asked herself. No doubt existed in her mind. In the fraction of a second, all this occurred her brain gave her finger one simple command: Pull the damn trigger. Which she did.
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Ami saw her. A woman. The American woman who pretended to be Madeline Lapointe had him sighted in. The eyes, he could recognize her eyes anywhere. Before he could finish the trigger pull, he watched as the end of her gun exploded in a reddish/orange hue. His head snapped back and the light in his eyes dimmed until the darkness engulfed him forever.
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Ami’s head exploded in a red mist as the three-round burst tore through his forehead and sent pieces of his head all over the hallway.
Troy watched as Ami’s life pass from him. He rushed towards the two bodies and checked the vitals of the asset. He felt a pulse although the man’s eyes rolled back, and he appeared to have laborious breaths. With a firm shake, Troy jostled back to the present reality. The Colonel arrived a second later and stood just behind Troy and to the left.
The assets eyes suddenly opened and moved first from Troy then down towards Ami. “Ami…” he said as droplets of blood formed on the corner of his mouth and dripped down the side of his cheek.
“He’s dead,” replied Troy.
With short breaths that came in rapid succession, the asset replied, “The bomb … it will go off … tomorrow … before sunset … your country is doomed”
“The intelligence agencies are looking through the files but they’ve not found anything that has led them to the weapon yet.”
“I … I overheard Ami … on the … plane.”
“What did you hear?” questioned Troy.
“Andrews … the target is Andrews.”
“Joint Base Andrews?”
The asset nodded then touched his chest, “Benjamin … that’s my name.”
“What else did you overhear Benjamin?”
“Ami’s brother … he will detonate … the weapon … near the front gate.”
Troy’s face contorted into a dumbfounded look. He had read Ami’s bio, knew almost all he could know about the man. Ami’s brother had died twenty years ago when his sports car slid off a hairpin turn in Monaco and plunged several hundred feet to the rocks below. There were numerous witnesses to the tragic crash. “That’s not possible, I read all the intel. His brother’s dead.”
With a slight motion, Benjamin shook his head, “I’ve met him … in DC … just last month … he’s alive … I swear it.”
Troy wasn’t sure what to think, “Where in Washington?”
“Suburbs … south … don’t know the address … close to the beltway.” With each passing breath, his voice became weaker and the pauses between phrases grew longer.
“His brother was named Joseph Sulzer. I take it he uses an alias.”
Benjamin nodded, “Yes … an alias.”
“What is it? What name does he go by?”
As his eyes rolled back into his head Benjamin only got three words out, “His … name … is …” Then his mouth stopped moving as the last gust of air passed from his lungs and out his mouth.
Troy felt for a pulse, he found one but it was weak. “Harry,” he screamed.
A few seconds later Harry crouched low next to him.
“Keep him alive Harry, we need the name he was about to tell me.”
Harry nodded and got to work on the half dead man. “We need to evac him stat. He needs blood and a surgeon if he’s gonna stand any chance.”
“I’m going topside to call for the nuke recovery team and also get a SORT (Special Operations Resuscitation Team) team here ASAP for Benjamin,” said the Colonel.
Troy nodded, “You better warn the SecDef as well. They’ll need to implement Operation Rapture.”
Troy felt her presence and looked over his shoulder. Truth be told he could smell her, the sweet aroma of her skin was unmistakable. His fierce gaze zeroed in on her as the weight of what she did struck him.
“Cap, it was him or the Jackal, if I had any other choice …” her voice trailed off as she didn’t know what else to say.
His expression softened but he didn’t reply. Deep down he knew she made the right call. There was no denying he would have done the exact same thing. His anger gave way to frustration as his mind kept asking, How the hell do we stop the attack in time?
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Sam instinctively knew she made the right call and could tell from how Troy’s countenance changed he agreed.
The Jackal stood next to her and gripped her right shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze. She turned towards him as he mouthed the words, Thank you.
She just smiled and nodded before she leaned in close and whispered, “Now we’re even, I’ve got no more red in my ledger,” before she gave him a little pat on the backside with her right hand.
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Up Next ... Part X ... The Conclusion
“Colonel Marshall,” said the tall man with a lean face and dirty blond hair, “I’m John Lawson.”
“You work for Pat O’Shea?”
“Yes sir, I’m in charge of the NNSA’s Accident Response Group (ARG). The rest of my team is waiting for us inside. I know you’re in a rush to get to Babylon and secure the nuke but my team wants to go over a couple things really quick. Won’t take more than five minutes of your time.”
“Lead the way, John,” replied the Colonel as he followed behind.
John, true to his word kept the conversation brief and told the Omega Group only what they needed to know about the nuke. Five minutes later the team stepped through the open hangar door and back into the harsh sunlight.
“Fellas, grab the gear from the plane,” said the Colonel.
“Where’s the armored SUV’s the agency promised?” asked Troy.
“No clue,” said the Colonel as he looked around the barren airfield. “We need to grab one of the spooks that work at this godforsaken track of land. They were supposed to meet u when we landed.”
Two camouflaged colored unarmored Humvees were parked close to the hangar. About 50 yards away a two-story concrete building made up the entirety of the complex. The Colonel could see several black Suburbans parked just beyond the concrete structure. A man emerged from the building a minute later and walked toward the team with a timid look on his face.
“We’re looking for our vehicles,” barked the Colonel to the man as he got close.
“They’re right there,” indicated the man as he pointed to the Humvees.
“Can’t be. I was assured several armored Mercedes would be ready for us,” replied the Colonel with a scowl spread across his face, “Not those IED magnets.”
“I don’t know anything about that, sir. I was told those Humvees were for your team.”
“Where the hell is the CIA station chief?” demanded the Colonel. “He was supposed to meet my team here and assist with any help we needed.”
“He got called back to Baghdad on an urgent matter a few hours ago, sir.”
Colonel Marshall was pissed. He knew immediately that the Director of the CIA had dicked him over. They had a love/hate relationship over the years and for the past several it certainly stayed firmly on the hate end of the spectrum.
The Colonel pointed to the two black Suburbans behind the building. “Who do those belong to?”
Shaking his head back and forth the man said, “There’s a HUMINT meeting going on inside with senior agency staff. Those are part of the station chief’s convoy, and for their use only.”
“We’ll see about that,” replied the Colonel, “I need the keys.”
“Not gonna happen, sir. If you’ll excuse me …” answered the man as he turned and trotted towards the concrete structure and away from the team with a look of concern plastered all over his face.
“Sarge,” barked the Colonel as he titled his head towards the fleeing man and arched his eyebrows.
“Got him, boss.”
Terrance moved with lightning fast speed and overtook the man in seconds. With his massive arms wrapped around the man’s neck, he had him subdued and unconscious a few seconds later. After patting him down he groaned and then ran back to the Colonel.
“No keys. Just a 9mm and a cell phone,” said Sarge.
“How we going to get the vehicles now?” asked Sam in a frustrated tone.
Troy looked over at Jesús, “Time for you to work your magic, brother.”
“Gotcha Cap,” responded Jesús as he sprinted towards the two vehicles about 100 feet way.
“What’s he going to do? Hotwire them?” asked Sam in a skeptical tone.
“Precisely,” answered Troy.
“Jesús knows how to hotwire cars?”
“Yes,” interjected Digger, “He was a damn fine car thief back in the days around East L.A.”
“I heard that,” bellowed Jesús from far away, “Don’t forget I was a drug dealer too,” he said over his shoulder.
“You weren’t aware that Jesús didn’t always walk the straight and narrow?” asked the Jackal.
“Not a clue,” remarked Sam as she shook her head, “I thought he was just a good ole’ Christian with a heart of gold.”
“Sometimes you have to dance with the devil before you roll with the saints,” said Troy with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek.
“Man, you guys are all jacked up aren’t you?” asked Sam.
She didn’t get any answers, just a few smirks.
Three minutes later the first SUV pulled up next to the team. “Load up the gear Ese’s,” instructed Jesús with a wide grin on his face as he pointed towards the rear of the Suburban. “I’ll go grab the other vehicle.”
“Good job, Jesús,” said Troy.
“Yup, Jesus saves our asses from time to time,” mocked the Jackal just to yank Jesús’s chain.
“Watch it, Jackal,” replied Jesús as he turned and glared.
Troy looked at Sam whose eyes grew wide, “Jesús doesn’t like the sacrilegious stuff much.”
“Find a weakness, then exploit it,” answered the Jackal.
“You’re such a child,” said Sam as she shook her head.
A couple minutes later Jesús returned with the second vehicle and the rest of the supplies were loaded. The team split equally amongst the two vehicles and left the airfield at Al-Hillah traveling fifteen minutes down Highway 8 towards the ruins of Babylon.
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“Did they arrive?” demanded Ami as the plane touched down.
“Our contact at the CIA facility in Al-Hillah just called to say their plane in on its final approach,” responded Benjamin.
“We must move quickly and load the gear into the helicopter,” instructed Ami.
“The men know.”
“How far behind will we be?”
“At least fifteen to twenty minutes.”
“How about the other men?”
“Martyrs are hard to find on short notice, even in Iraq.”
“Did my men not find any?”
“No, they found a handful. They should arrive before we do. I expect twenty-three men including Rahman and his guards.”
“He won’t be happy when I tell him what’s about to happen,” replied Ami.
“If he wants his nuke bad enough, he’ll have to deal with the reality that awaits us all.”
“Agreed,” responded Ami before he quickly asked, “And how about the four men at the site. Are they ready?”
“They said they were but I think we both know what fate has in store for them.”
“Without question,” answered Ami, “They’ll be slaughtered.”
“Maybe it will slow the American’s down slightly or even one of them may get lucky.”
“Luck is for the poor and the weak,” replied Ami, “A real man doesn’t rely on such mumbo jumbo.”
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The road leading off Highway 8 to Babylon was covered with a thick layer of sand after a storm moved its way across the region overnight. Troy drove the lead vehicle and had difficulty locating the pavement as he raced down the two-lane road much too fast. Only the signs sprinkled along the side of the road sporadically gave him any indication where the pavement ended and the desert landscape began.
Troy had visited Babylon on two separate occasions during his numerous deployments to Iraq. He had done so for the historical significance, but knowing the layout of the area now proved to be valuable.
As the wind continued to whip across the desert landscape the roadway ahead once again became visible as the sand retreated from the asphalt. In the distance, a seven-meter high sand dune blocked the view of Babylon. It also provided Troy an idea; he recalled that the Ishtar Gate stood less than a quarter mile beyond the dune.
“Digger,” he barked into his comms.
“Yes Cap,” came the reply from the vehicle directly behind him.
“There’s a sand dune directly ahead, I need you and Jackal on top of it for overwatch.”
“Roger that Cap.”
Thirty seconds later the two vehicles came to a quick stop at the base of the dune. The Jackal jumped out from the lead vehicle while Digger climbed out of the other and they quickly scaled the steep dune. Within two minutes flat Digger had his M23A2 SWS rifle in place and his first 7.62mmx51mm NATO round chambered. The Jackal maintained a similar pose next to him and used his spotter optics to acquire targets.
Once they were both in position Digger gave Troy the go-ahead to proceed. Troy accelerated the Suburban as the sand flew out from under the back tires and within a few seconds made his way around the dune. The Ishtar Gate became visible as its blue painted bricks provided a splash of color in a dull monochrome palette. Troy saw the man with his hand out and the orange traffic cone in the road the same time as Digger’s voice breached the silence.
“Cap, we got an armed guard two hundred yards ahead blocking the road,” warned Digger.
“Copy that, I see him,” responded Troy as he looked to his right at the Colonel. “We were told no guards, right?”
“Correct,” replied the Colonel whose eyes narrowed as his mouth began to frown. “The Iraqis assured the agency all guards would be ordered to stand down.”
“Then he must be hostile.”
“More than likely.”
“See anyone else visible?” he asked.
“Negative,” responded Digger, “We are scanning the structures nearby. Do you want me to engage the target?”
Troy reached to his right side and removed his Kimber 1911 .45. With a round always chambered he removed the thumb safety and held the gun against his left thigh as he continued to steer with his left hand. “No, I’ll handle him. You guys see if we have any other threats or if we’re driving into an ambush.”
“Roger.”
“You think Ami arrived already?” asked the Colonel.
“Doubt it,” answered Troy, “But it’s highly likely he dispatched a team here to protect the site.”
“No surprise there.”
Troy nodded, “Game time ladies and gentlemen,” as he spoke to the whole team, “Make sure you’re cocked, locked, and ready to rock.”
“Hooah,” he received back from everyone.
Troy slowed as he approached the man whose outstretched hand demanding they stop. The vehicle stood high enough off the ground that the man could only see from the chest up as he approached the driver’s side window. Troy lowered the window and returned the icy glare the man provided.
After years of experience, Troy knew the tell-tale signs to watch for. The eyes, it always came down to the eyes. The guard’s eyes darted to each person in the vehicle and narrowed ever so slightly. Not in a way you assess if something is a threat but calculating how to eliminate an acknowledged threat.
“Ishtar Gate is closed, you must turn around,” commanded the man in broken English. He wore a white helmet, tan uniform, and black boots that looked much too new for an Iraqi soldier. An AK-47 slung across his chest while a large caliber sidearm hung on his right hip.
“You don’t get it bub, we must pass,” answered Troy in a calm, cool tone, “It’s official government business.”
Just then Digger’s voice interrupted the exchange, “Contact, I have three weapons trained on your position …”
The guard’s response was rapid, but still not fast enough. As he reached to his right hip and gripped the handgun that hung to his side Troy raised the 1911 with a lightning quick motion. As soon as the barrel cleared the door trim Troy fired one solitary round. The large .45 caliber round struck the man in the bridge of his nose and left a dime-sized hole in his face. When the hollow-point round emerged half the back of his head exploded. The sound inside the vehicle was nearly deafening.
Suddenly, rounds began hitting the front grill of the armored Suburban and traveled up the hood. Troy rolled up the window and mashed the gas pedal to the floor. Successive bullets struck the front hood and smacked into the bulletproof windshield splintering the polycarbonate but not breaking the toughened glass.
“Anytime fellas,“ hollered Troy as the engine whined and the vehicle accelerated.
Digger fired one round after another. Within five seconds the three shooters were neutralized.
Both Suburbans came to a screeching halt before the Ishtar Gate as the team jumped out and took up defensive positions not knowing what other threats they may face.
“We clear?” asked Troy into his comms.
“Roger that, Cap,” responded Digger from overwatch.
“Then double time it and get your asses to the gate,” he demanded.
The Colonel stood at Troy’s side as both men’s eyes scanned the area for hostiles.
Troy reached over and rubbed his fingers against the rough pock marks splattered across the smooth hood. “Glad we didn’t take those POS Humvees the spooks left us.”
With a visible grimace, the Colonel replied, “The Director and I will have fierce words when I get back to DC.”
Troy nodded before he barked, “Move out everyone, and stay alert.”
With his HK416 pointed forward, Troy led the group as he approached the left side of the structure. He immediately noticed the large stone blocks that Naseefa had described. They were huge sandstone blocks that made up the wall constructed by Saddam on top of the existing Babylonian antiquity wall. A large gap big enough to place a finger inside ran along the top of each three-foot-square block. In many places, the gap had been filled by papers and stones stuffed into the slits by tourists and locals.
It took a couple passes but Troy ran his finger inside the third block and finally felt the two locking pins set several inches back hidden inside the stone. With both index fingers inserted he simultaneously pushed the two pins and a metallic click sound indicated the mechanism keeping the block in place disengaged. His fingers gripped the smooth stone, and it easily swung towards him revealing a blackened shaft that led underground.
Digger and the Jackal arrived just as Troy shined his flashlight into the abyss.
“Someone hold onto me so I can get a better look,” said Troy as he lowered his head and torso into the shaft. He abandoned the flashlight and instead flipped down his GPNVG optics and used an IR illuminator to boost the light. Terrance and Jesús each held tight onto his legs as Troy looked down the long tunnel bathed in a greenish hue.
“What’s it look like?” asked Sarge as they pulled him back up.
“Not much,” replied Troy as he stood up and felt the blood rush out of his head. “It appears to be at least a hundred feet long and dead ends right here. Metal ladder rungs lead down to the ground. Looks like there’s a locking mechanism in place so the hatch can be sealed from the inside.”
“What’s at the other end of the tunnel?” asked Sarge.
Troy shrugged his shoulders, “Guess we’re about to find out.” He then turned to his right and locked eyes with Harry, “Need you to stay topside and watch our six, ok?”
“Copy that, Cap.”
“If you see anyone coming towards the gate let us know.”
Harry nodded.
“Everyone else, follow me, you’ll need your NVG’s and IR illuminators,” said Troy before he paused, “Oh, who’s got the cooler?”
“I got it,” answered the Colonel as he patted the blue Igloo cooler.
“Won’t get far without that.”
They made their way down the ladder rungs one at a time with Troy taking the lead.
Jesús paused for a moment and bowed his head before he started down the opening.
The Jackal saw him and muttered, “Hope you mention me in your chats with the man upstairs,” with a smirk.
“Always brother,” answered Jesús then added with a wink, “For you more than the others,” before he quickly disappeared down the hole.
“Ladies first,” said the Jackal. He swung his arm out towards the opening as Sam sidled up next to him.
“Well … aren’t you just a gentleman,” she responded with an exquisite southern drawn rolling off her tongue. Next thing he knew she crouched down, grabbed a hold of the top of the shaft and swung her body over the opening dropping straight down to the darkness below. Her movements were like an elegant dancer as she twisted her body and slipped flawlessly out of sight.
“Show off,” whispered the Jackal as he shook his head slightly. Damn, that girl is hot, he thought to himself as he watched her disappear.
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As the helicopter quickly gained altitude and climbed into the gleaming Arab sky Ami felt a slight tap on his leg. He looked at Benjamin who touched his hand to his headset and then put up two fingers. This indicated that Ami needed to switch to channel two. Whatever he needed to say, clearly, he didn’t want any of the others in the helicopter to hear. Rahman Salek had his back to both men so it wouldn’t be a problem keeping him out of the loop.
“Yes?” asked Ami.
“Our men at Babylon just made contact with the Americans?”
“And?”
“As expected, the one manning the checkpoint didn’t last long.”
“What about the others?”
“They engaged the two vehicles that approached but the call ended abruptly with an immense amount of gunfire.”
“Have you called them back?”
“No answer. I tried repeatedly but…”
Ami shook his head, “They’re dead. What about the other team? Did they make it?”
Benjamin’s gesture indicated no, “They hit a roadside checkpoint south of Baghdad. Made it through ok but it caused a delay.”
“When will they arrive?”
“Just about the same time we’ll land,” he then looked at his watch and added, “In about fifteen minutes.”
Ami was quiet for a moment as his mind considered the options. “We’ll need to flush out the Americans before they can secure the nuke and bring in reinforcements.”
“Agreed. Do you want to gas them?”
As he considered the question Ami knew the answer. A team that could make it into his compound and steals critical info would be not only well disciplined but highly prepared. “No,” he replied, “They’re sure to have masks. We’ll have to rely on superior firepower.”
“I suspect marksmanship will be in their favor.”
“True,” answered Ami, “That’s why we’ll send in the Iraqis first. They’re dispensable.”
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The ground sloped downward with a steep grade from the moment they entered the pitch-black tunnel. As the team reached the end Troy put his hand up to motion everyone to hold up. With two quick gestures, he indicated he wanted Terrance and Jesús to check the left and right side of the opening. They moved in rapid steps and both swung out in tandem while in low voices, both replied “Clear.”
The team continued to move forward with the Jackal and Sam on their six. With two long hallways that closely formed the shape of an X the complex had a series of rooms that lined each passageway. In the very center of the X, the schematic showed the vault. With quickened paces, the team cleared each of the eight room they encountered and moved forward before reaching the center room.
A large forty-foot by forty-foot room with ceilings close to fifteen feet high greeted them as they stepped into the room. The four hallways that made up the facility extended out from the corners of the room. A sense of relief spread across Troy as he immediately took note of the vault precisely where the diagram said it should be. As they approached the vault door, the team kept at least one gun on each of the three remaining halls they hadn’t cleared.
Troy approached the vault first, he noticed a control panel with a dusty digital keypad and biometric hand pad to the right of the door. The stainless steel rounded vault door was massive and had a polished five spoke handle. It looked like one of those doors one would find in the basement of an old bank in NYC during the early 1900’s. Clearly not something anyone expected to come across under a four-thousand-year-old archaeological site. How the hell did they even get this door down here, thought Troy as he shook his head in amazement.
The Colonel handed him the blue Igloo cooler, “Open her up and make sure the nuke is inside, we need to keep moving,” he said. “We’ll split up and clear the remaining three hallways.”
Troy nodded as the team quickly disappeared down the three darkened hallways. He put the cooler on the concrete floor and flipped open the lid. There in a greenish light, he saw Naseefa’s severed hand. He picked up the cold to the touch clammy hand he had cut off just below the wrist. Touching dead bodies never bothered Troy, but for an unknown reason holding the hand within his own seemed awfully unnatural at the moment.
With his left hand, Troy entered the twelve-digit code 0-7-1-1-1-5-2-1-2-8-3-5. The light above the keypad flickered green and stayed that color as the code was accepted. Next, he placed Nasseffa’s hand on the keypad. A digital scan head passed under the glass and registered the handprint pressed against the surface. The second green light illuminated and a deep metallic clang and cranking sound indicated the metal cylinders retreated from the door frame. With a dull thud at the end, Troy knew the door could be opened.
Troy stepped to the center of the door and turned the five spoke handle counter clockwise and heard the hiss of pressure being released from the vaults seal. He then pulled the heavy door as it began to pivot open and creep toward him. Giving it a firm tug momentum took over and the door fully opened. Troy looked inside the vault chamber and saw the prize.
The nuclear warhead sat in the center of the space in a custom designed cradle. A second cradle next to it sat empty. Troy stepped inside and stood next to the device. His mind raced back to years before when he stood inside a vault not much different from where he found himself. At the time when he was younger, a similar size nuclear weapon greeted his eyes. For some, it would be a thrilling moment but for Troy seeing another warhead brought back only memories of pain and loss. He never wanted to see another weapon of mass destruction as long as he lived.
As he stood there and stared at the weapon for a few minutes, the rest of the team returned from clearing the facility and entered the chamber.
“All clear,” said the Colonel, as he whistled noticeably and stepped into the vault. “Damn, that’s a big ass nuke.” As he spoke he could see the anguish spread across Troy’s face. “You did good, Cap. Really good.”
“Yes sir,” answered Troy, “The whole team did.”
Terrance stepped close to Troy and put his hand on his shoulder. “Not many people get to find one of these things in their lifetime, let alone two.”
Troy shook his head, “Tell me about it. A dubious honor I wish I didn’t hold.”
The Jackal walked up to the weapon and without warning climbed on top of it with a full straddle and started his best impression from Dr. Strangelove. Taking off his helmet he waved it around and let out a few “howls” and “yee-haws” as he gyrated wildly much to the amusement of everyone on the team. Even the Colonel who normally appeared ever so stoic managed to crack a wide smile.
Quickly he returned to his grumpy self after the Jackal carried on for a little too long, “That’s enough, get your skinny ass off the thermonuclear device before you somehow activate it and blow us all to kingdom come.”
The Jackal climbed off it and added, “I always wanted to do that ever since I was a little boy.”
“And I’m sure you’ve done worse,” said Digger.
The Jackal smiled from ear to ear, “Ahh, you remember the story I told you about what I did in every single one of Saddam’s palaces?”
“Sadly, yes,” answered Digger, “Will never get that mental image out of mind either.”
“I don’t want to know,” interjected Sam as she raised her hands up to stop Digger from going any further.
The banter and lightheadedness disappeared in an instant as Harry’s voice caused everyone’s muscles to tighten.
“We have several vehicles approaching at a high rate of speed and also a chopper flying low which appears to be landing.”
“Ami?” asked Troy.
“Not sure,” answered Harry, “But whoever it is I’m pretty sure they spotted me.”
“Get down here, close the hatch, and lock it from the inside,” commanded Troy, “We’re in the middle room inside the vault.”
“Copy that,” answered Harry, “On my way.”
“We need to seal the vault and set up defensive positions,” instructed Troy. “Find anything you can to give us cover. Meet back here in four minutes.”
Troy knew Ami could be ruthless and had access to even greater firepower than the Omega Group. So, he knew they had to fight smarter, not harder. One of the packs they carried underground contained over twenty-five pounds of M112 (military grade C4) and dozens of detonators. As half the team gathered and arranged obstacles the others strategically placed the blocks of plastic explosives throughout the three hallways they just cleared.
As Troy pushed the vault door shut and engaged the locking mechanism something concerned him. Indecisiveness was something Troy never struggled with in life. Planning came naturally to him from an early age and when he formulated a strategy more times than not it proved to be exactly the right decision. But, a voice within him welled up and convinced him to change tactics. Ami’s gonna come at us with everything in his arsenal, he thought, And what if it’s too much? Troy’s mind raced, RPG’s, grenades, who knows what other explosives he will use that could inflict serious damage on us. We need to be proactive, not reactive.
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Rahman Salek could be left in the dark no longer. A few minutes before they landed in Babylon Ami told him the Americans were making a play for the weapon. As expected Rahman responded with rage when Ami admitted to misleading him. However, Ami cared not, and he made it clear that if Rahman wanted the weapon, they would need to deal with the Americans in order to secure the device. As usual, Ami lied when Rahman questioned what awaited them. It became such a habit over the years even he had difficulty separating fact from fiction in his own mind. He assured Rahman they had superior numbers and could defeat the Americans. Ami was correct; they held a three to one advantage in regards to sheer bodies available. But the comparison meant little since Ami knew the enemy they faced could fight off a small army given the right conditions. Pride stood between Ami’s intellect and reasoning abilities and he couldn’t just walk away. Letting the Americans retrieve the weapon would be an unacceptable outcome in his mind.
By the time Ami and his men arrived at the Ishtar Gate there was no sign of the American soldier his men spotted as they landed. As his men converged on the gate, they discovered the hidden entrance on the right side had been locked from the inside. It mattered not since Ami knew of other ways to enter the subterranean structure. It did mean that the team would be prepared for their arrival and were guaranteed to be ready for any onslaught. Ami had some tricks up his sleeve and convinced himself they could get the upper hand.
“Bring all the gear,” instructed Ami.
“All of it?” asked one of his men. “It’s quite heavy.”
“Yes, and it may very well save our asses today.”
Two hundred yards past the gate Ami located the hatch he used one time he visited the site with Naseefa. He brushed away the sand that covered the opening and shielded it from prying eyes. Next to it, a metal cover hid a keypad. Ami flipped it up and entered the six-digit number. After the locking mechanism disengaged one of his men pulled open the heavy steel hatch. It gave a loud creaking sound as it slowly opened. Looking down into the abyss their eyes saw only darkness.
“Either they haven’t located the lights or they are choosing to operate in the shadows.”
“We need every advantage we can take,” replied Ami, “And using optics will only aid the Americans. They are experts at being silent warriors and thrive in this type of realm. Once inside we must turn on the lights, using the NVG’s during the battle will put us at a strategic disadvantage.”
“But if we turn on the lights they’ll know we’re here.”
“Trust me, that’s already the case.”
One after another the men climbed down the ladder that led to the passage below. Once everyone made it down Ami followed behind and shut the hatch. He did so as quietly as possible but it still made a dull thud that echoed down the hallway. At the bottom of the ladder, Benjamin stayed close to Ami.
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As soon as everyone came back Troy briefly stated his concerns about the defensive position they erected. The team trusted him implicitly and if he asked his brothers-in-arms to rush the gates of hell itself they would do so without hesitation or care for personal safety. Their bond cemented, and their fates intertwined.
“Your call, Cap,” replied the Colonel. “If that famous gut of yours is acting up, I for one say we listen to it.”
The others, including Sam, nodded.
Troy felt certain the hunted needed to become the hunters.
The sound of the distant hatch opening alerted Troy and the rest of the team that the battle would start soon.
“We’re not alone … they’re here,” he said, “Get ready and watch for my signals.”
Positioned directly in front of the vault door Troy had several thick stainless desks aligned to provide him the best cover he could while also being able to maintain a visual on his team. He said a quick prayer and as always asked not for his safety but for his men. His brothers came first. Always.
Two minutes later a distinct thud sound reverberated down the hall at the ten ’o’clock position from where Troy crouched. The sound revealed which hallway Ami’s men used to enter the subterranean facility. He gestured for the rest of the team with his hands and indicated which direction the assault would come. Then it became a waiting game. Troy had no line of sight down the hallway but Digger had the perfect angle.
Troy broke radio silence to give quick instructions in a whisper to Digger. “Ami will lead from the rear, those expendable to him will come first. Take them out so we can thin the herd.”
“Copy that,” answered Digger.
Everything became eerily quiet.
With a keen eye, Digger saw movement half way down the hall and made two clicks on his comms. That was the signal for the Jackal who had the detonator in his right hand. As soon as he heard the clicks, he squeezed the handle tight and depressed the black button on top.
A loud explosion and the subsequent shock wave carried down the hall as dust and debris spewed into the large room. Hearing groaning and screams Troy stood up and led his team towards the opening.
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The wave of energy reverberated down the narrow hallway striking Ami in the chest and knocking his feet out from under him. He landed with a dull thud flat on his back. Dammit, he thought as he hit the cold, hard concrete. He never saw it coming. Ami expected the American’s would dig in, use defensive methods to combat his men’s attack, but not go on the offensive. I should’ve known better, he thought.
Up ahead he heard groaning but could see nothing since the force of the explosion knocked his optics from the top of his head. As he rolled over to his hand and knees, he began frantically feeling along the cold concrete for them. Shards of metal and concrete punctured his skin and gouged his knees as he moved around. Then he remembered the light switches he passed a few feet away on the wall.
Two firm hands grabbed at his collar and a strong grip pulled him almost to his feet.
“Ami, are you ok?”
Even with his head spinning, Ami recognized the voice. “Yes, I think I’m ok,” he answered.
“Good,” replied Benjamin, “We need to find shelter in one of these rooms.”
“No,” responded Ami with a forceful tone, “Push the men forward.”
“But…” Benjamin replied.
Ami would hear none of it, “Now,” he demanded as he moved forward much to the chagrin of the man at his side. In the pitch black, he slipped on a pool of blood that filled the center of the hall from the bodies littered all over the floor and fell once more. Four of the Iraqi mercs took direct hits from the plastic explosives when they detonated. There was little left besides chunks of flesh and a few intact limbs and torsos. Benjamin located the optics and handed them to Ami as he rose to his feet once more.
Crouched down on all fours Rahman Salek appeared bloodied but miraculously had not sustained any life-threatening injuries. Ami approached him. Both of Rahman’s bodyguards were dead.
“Get in this room,” growled Ami as he pulled Rahman’s arm and led him to the doorway. “Stay in there until I come for you and if anyone besides me or my men enter, shoot them in the head.”
Rahman looked to have suffered a concussion by the force of the explosion but he shook his head and acknowledged the instructions. “Ok,” he muttered as his eyes rolled around in his head.
“Lights … turn on the lights,” demanded Ami as he turned back.
“Are you sure?” asked Benjamin.
“Just do it,” he hissed. “These men are much better when the lights are out. We need to mount an offensive and the darkness is no longer our ally. Grab the RPG’s and follow me.”
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Troy and his team arrived at the far end of the room with their back pressed up against the wall. Everyone knew the drill. Keep Ami alive, at all costs. Troy knew this severely tied their hands and limited how they could respond. He also knew Ami would have no such restrictions. Playing by a different set of rules always stoked the fire within, it helped feed the rage that at times simmered just below the surface.
With a couple hand gestures, Troy directed the team to move down the hallway and face Ami’s force head on. As he shifted away from the limited safety afforded by the wall his body froze as a distinct hum emanated all of a sudden from the ceiling. Just like that the room was bathed in incandescent light as the fixtures through the room and up and down the hallway suddenly came to life. With the lights back on Troy and the rest of the team pressed themselves back again the wall and flipped up their night optics. Clever, thought Troy, Levels the playing field a little bit. Smart move Ami. He considered shooting out the lights but knew it wouldn’t be feasible.
Terrance stood across from him against the wall on the other side of the opening. He shrugged his shoulders and mouthed the words, What do we do now? While at the same time he brought his finger across his neck in a quick motion.
Troy shook his head indicating no. There would be no turning back, they must move forward. As he gave hand signals to begin the offensive push, a deafening explosion reverberated down the hallway. The distinct sound followed as the warhead careened towards them. Instinctively they all turned toward the wall and crouched low to expose the least amount of their flesh to the destructive ordnance as possible. The 93 mm HEAT warhead screamed through the room and struck just to the left of the vault door back behind their position. Pieces of hot, jagged metal littered the room but caused no injury to the team.
“Now,” said Troy knowing a tit-for-tat exchange of explosives between the two forces would only result in loss of life or serious injury. He had to stop the carnage before it could begin.
The Jackal and Terrance stood on opposite side of the doorway that led to the hallway and when the signal came in unison, they each threw two flash bangs as far as they could down the hall. The canisters clanged against the concrete floor several times followed by four successive explosions. With weapons raised the Omega Group members flooded into the hallway and began to acquire targets.
Three men staggered in a dazed fashion about a quarter way down the hall. With three round bursts fired rapidly from multiple weapons the men were struck and crumpled to the ground. Two other bodies lay close by on the ground, one of them twitching and convulsing. Subsequent shots stopped the one body from moving while insurance rounds were pumped into the others to ensure no threat existed as they moved forward.
No other targets appeared down the hallway. Clearly, the rest of Ami’s men took shelter in the rooms that dotted the hallway. Troy knew they needed to clear each room and do it before Ami’s team could respond.
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Before the second RPG could be fired the four flashbangs detonated about twenty feet away from Ami and Benjamin. As the stun grenades went off Benjamin shielded Ami from the blast then quickly shoved him into an adjacent room. The remaining men fighting for Ami took cover in the various rooms up and down the hallway and less than ten of them remained.
“We stay in here we die,” muttered Ami in a livid tone as Benjamin pushed him into the room against his will.
Benjamin couldn’t disagree with the sentiment but he also knew death would greet them much faster if they remained out in the open.
“What do you suggest? If we step outside this door we’re dead already.”
Ami knew what was said made sense so he shook his head and tried to clear his mind. Then it occurred to him, “Use the corner shot. Take out as many of them as you can. I’ll radio the others to use their grenades.”
With a nod of his head, Benjamin knew he had no choice but to obey.
Using the relative safety of the room he stood a foot away from the doorway and adjusted the angle, cocked the weapon, and prepared to fire. Killing the Americans was not his intent but at the same time, he couldn’t refuse the order to shoot. As he extended the weapon around the door frame, his viewfinder located a target. With two quick pulls of the trigger, the man dropped, and he swung the weapon to the right slightly and took aim at the next soldier. The bullseye settled on the chest but before he could pull the trigger a barrage of bullets struck the door frame and hit the weapon dislodging it from his hands and rendering it useless as several rounds struck the barrel.
“One down,” he yelled for the benefit of Ami as he drew his sidearm.
“Rush the hallway,” screamed Ami into his radio, “Use the grenades.”
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Digger saw the black metal protrude from the distant doorway but didn’t react fast enough. By the time he realized it was a corner shot weapon the two rounds went Pop, Pop. It felt like a sledgehammer hit him directly in the solar plexus one after another. With the wind knocked out of him, he fell to the ground and grabbed at his chest.
Sam and the Jackal watched him drop as they each unloaded full mags into the doorway where the shots were fired.
As he lay on the ground and gasped for breath Digger felt like an elephant lay on top of his chest. He sustained many injuries in his ten years with the military but getting shot hadn’t made the list. Fortunately, his body armour saved his life as both rounds struck squarely in the middle of the protective plate. But it still hurt like hell.
Harry stood over him a few seconds later and checked his vitals before leading him back towards the end of the hallway.
“I’m fine,” responded Digger in quick, short breaths as he tried to break free of Harry’s arm wrapped around his waist.
“Like hell you are, you just took two in the chest.”
“And if we don’t stay in the fight the next rounds may find soft tissue. We push through and we end this just like Cap said. I’m not part of the “B” team after all.”
Troy, Terrance, and Jesús entered the first room and after a brief exchange, the three men they encountered died with rounds to their heads. It took them less than thirty seconds to secure the room. Next, they proceeded back out and quietly made their way down the hall to the next room.
Sam, Colonel Marshall, and the Jackal entered their first room as two grenades rolled across the floor towards them. In unison, they dove behind a large stainless steel examining table to their right and pulled it down as a shield. A second later the explosion ripped through the middle of the room. Shrapnel riddled the outside of the table with a series of clanging sounds but didn’t penetrate the thick steel. Ami’s two men who tossed the grenades stood no chance as the trio popped up from behind the table and cut the men down one after the other. They were down to three rooms to search and felt certain one of them must contain Ami.
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As Troy stood outside the next room he gave a nod to Terrance and they both threw flashbangs inside and counted to three. As soon as the two back-to-back explosions went off, they rushed into the room with Jesús on Troy’s six.
Troy heard the shot before he felt it. His arm felt a burning sensation as a twinge of pain shot up his arm. His mind immediately recognized he’d been hit. Wasn’t the first time, and he doubted it would be the last. He still gripped his weapon tightly and engaged the person on the far end of the room that fired the shot. With a three-round burst to the face, the man dropped in a heap. Another man lay on the ground stunned since one of the flash bangs exploded at his feet. Terrance drilled him with a burst from his rifle and Jesús took out the third man in the corner who managed to get off a few rounds that sailed above Sarge’s head.
Clearing the room, they moved back towards the door. Then Jesús saw the beads at the end of Troy’s elbow that fell to the ground in crimson droplets.
“Cap” he called out as he reached for his friend, “You’ve been hit.”
Troy shook his head, “Just a flesh wound, round went through-and-through near the bicep. I’m fine. We need to push on. Only a few rooms to clear and Ami must be in one of them.”
They stepped outside into the hallway and met up with the others. Two rooms remained. One much closer to the right, and the other at the far end of the hall on the left. With hand gestures, Troy indicated he wanted Sam, the Colonel, and the Jackal to take the closest room.
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Ami heard sporadic bursts of gunfire and multiple explosions but knew based on the sound it mainly came from the Americans. The HK416’ favored by the American special operation groups made a distinct sound and Ami had a keen eye for distinguishing one weapon over another. He correctly assumed most his men had been slaughtered. Their likelihood to get the nuclear weapon slipped by as each spent shell casing struck the cold concrete floor. With a steely resolve, he grabbed a vest from the black duffel bag near the door and put it on. Benjamin had never seen it before but once he noticed what it was his heart sunk.
“I can’t be taken alive,” proclaimed Ami as he zipped up the vest and toggled a switch on the black cigarette shaped box attached to the top right. In his hand, he held a detonator.
Benjamin’s mind raced, he never took Ami for being a martyr. Ami cared for one person and had one singular cause, and that was himself. He simply couldn’t grasp that Ami would choose such an action. “You can’t go out like that,” he pleaded, “You’re a survivor.”
“We either recover that nuke, or we don’t make it out,” said Ami with clear conviction. “And if I die in a blaze of glory the American’s will pay with their lives. Millions of them will suffer for the sins of their government. Their blood will be on the filth that leads the agency, not me.” He noticed the concern displayed in Benjamin’s eyes. “Why? Are you afraid to die?” questioned Ami with a grim look spread across his face.
Benjamin’s mind raced. The ante just got raised to a level far beyond his expertise. “Of course not,” he replied.
“Good then we finish this and hit them with everything we have left,” he said as he raised his assault rifle and held it with his right hand while the left gripped the black cylinder shaped detonator.
Realizing there was no way he could warn the American’s Benjamin knew his only chance to avert a nuclear disaster lay in keeping Ami alive somehow.
“Throw two grenades,” added Ami, “Then we rush the hallway and give them hell.”
Benjamin tried to step in front of him but Ami pushed him aside, “Me first,” he stated.
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Metal striking concrete makes a distinct sound. Troy heard it before he noticed the two spherical objects clang across the ground and roll in their direction.
“Frag out!’ he screamed. As the entire team took cover where there really wasn’t any to find since they were all out in the open. Best they could do was dive into the closest room. Most of them moved fast enough before the two explosions ripped through the hallway. Troy didn’t have the time and would never take shelter before his folks found it first. He turned away from the grenades while he pressed his body as tight to the wall as he could. The deafening sound so close rattled his fillings while shards of metal struck the wall all around him, but aside from a few fragments sticking him in the back and lower leg he escaped without serious injury.
At once, he spun back around towards the opening where the grenades were lobbed as two figures emerged from the door. He recognized Ami in a fraction of a second as he watched the gun he held sweep towards him. Troy didn’t hesitate. He put the first three round burst into the ball of Ami’s shoulder while he placed two more shots into each kneecap. Ami screamed out in pain and fell forward, his left hand suspiciously extended.
Right behind him, a second person emerged. Troy recognized the face and knew it was the asset he encountered the day before at Ami’s compound. He hesitated to take the shot even though the man held an assault rifle. The weapon didn’t raise and Troy wasn’t about to shoot the man who provided them with so much intelligence.
Digger and the Jackal stepped out from the shelter they found in time to watch as Troy fired the second round into Ami’s kneecap. As he hit the ground and the other man stepped out behind him neither one hesitated when they saw the weapon he held. With lightning fast trigger pulls they both put a burst into the man’s chest. With Troy’s weapon raised before them they had no shot at the man’s head.
Troy watched as the asset grabbed his chest. He yelled cease fire but knew in an instant it was already too late.
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Benjamin felt the very life get sucked out of him as the multiple rounds tore through flesh and bone and left him with a searing pain that spread out from his chest in every direction. He wore a flak jacket but two of the rounds struck where no Kevlar covered his chest just below his collarbone. As he fell forward, he saw Ami’s extended hand and finger precariously close to the detonator. With the ground fast approaching Benjamin took his arm and swatted at Ami’s hand in one quick motion. He connected and hit hard enough to dislodge the trigger from Ami’s grip as it fell to the ground out of reach.
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The Colonel, Harry, and Jesús cleared the last room. Inside they found Rahman Salek cowering in the corner crouched down rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet as he let out a high-pitched scream. His hands raised high in the air as he started hysterically saying, “Don’t shoot me, please don’t shoot me. My father, he’s a powerful man.”
“I know who your father is,” replied the Colonel who had learned his identity on the flight from Accra to Iraq. “And he’ll pay dearly if he ever wants to see you alive again.”
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The Jackal approached the two bodies that lay about twenty feet down the hall. Sam followed close behind him as they rushed forward. Several steps behind came Troy. An echoing scream from down the hall distracted the Jackal and his head turned back towards the sound.
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Ami’s body had accelerated into shock and his limbs screamed out in horrific pain as he lay on the ground in torment. Benjamin landed just in front of him and blocked both his assault rifle and also the way to blow himself up. He couldn’t even see the Americans with Benjamin directly in front of him blocking his line of sight. As his body slipped into a state of shock he kept telling himself, I can’t let them take me alive. Ami’s right shoulder burned with a searing pain he never felt before and he knew it would take all his strength to reach out with his left hand and reach for the detonator.
Lying flat on the ground, his neck craned to the left where his eyes made contact with Benjamin. A few seconds passed, and he saw the blank expression on Benjamin’s face change as he seemed to come to life and blink repeatedly as his face contorted into a grimace.
“Traitor,” hissed Ami knowing the man he trusted betrayed him and knocked the detonator away.
A slight smile formed at the corner of Benjamin’s lips as blood seeped through his teeth. With great effort, he mustered the strength to reply, “You’ll live … which means the bomb won’t go off … I’ve saved you and that’s all that matters.”
“They won’t take me alive,” answered Ami in a defiant tone. Digging deep he reached over Benjamin’s body and grabbed the rifle. The detonator was too far away and he knew no matter how far he reached he couldn’t grab it before the men rushing towards him arrived. He raised the weapon, pointed it at the closest person in his field of vision, and pulled back on the trigger.
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Sam saw the arm reach over the larger body and grip the assault rifle. In one smooth motion, the weapon raised and took dead aim on the closest person that approached. Sam didn’t think, she didn’t have time to do anything but react. She knew if she hesitated the Jackal may die. Only one part of the man on the ground was exposed. His face and she knew the shape of the face all too well. Ami had unmistakable eyes and facial features. Sam knew the orders, Ami must be kept alive at all costs. But did that include losing one of their own? She asked herself. No doubt existed in her mind. In the fraction of a second, all this occurred her brain gave her finger one simple command: Pull the damn trigger. Which she did.
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Ami saw her. A woman. The American woman who pretended to be Madeline Lapointe had him sighted in. The eyes, he could recognize her eyes anywhere. Before he could finish the trigger pull, he watched as the end of her gun exploded in a reddish/orange hue. His head snapped back and the light in his eyes dimmed until the darkness engulfed him forever.
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Ami’s head exploded in a red mist as the three-round burst tore through his forehead and sent pieces of his head all over the hallway.
Troy watched as Ami’s life pass from him. He rushed towards the two bodies and checked the vitals of the asset. He felt a pulse although the man’s eyes rolled back, and he appeared to have laborious breaths. With a firm shake, Troy jostled back to the present reality. The Colonel arrived a second later and stood just behind Troy and to the left.
The assets eyes suddenly opened and moved first from Troy then down towards Ami. “Ami…” he said as droplets of blood formed on the corner of his mouth and dripped down the side of his cheek.
“He’s dead,” replied Troy.
With short breaths that came in rapid succession, the asset replied, “The bomb … it will go off … tomorrow … before sunset … your country is doomed”
“The intelligence agencies are looking through the files but they’ve not found anything that has led them to the weapon yet.”
“I … I overheard Ami … on the … plane.”
“What did you hear?” questioned Troy.
“Andrews … the target is Andrews.”
“Joint Base Andrews?”
The asset nodded then touched his chest, “Benjamin … that’s my name.”
“What else did you overhear Benjamin?”
“Ami’s brother … he will detonate … the weapon … near the front gate.”
Troy’s face contorted into a dumbfounded look. He had read Ami’s bio, knew almost all he could know about the man. Ami’s brother had died twenty years ago when his sports car slid off a hairpin turn in Monaco and plunged several hundred feet to the rocks below. There were numerous witnesses to the tragic crash. “That’s not possible, I read all the intel. His brother’s dead.”
With a slight motion, Benjamin shook his head, “I’ve met him … in DC … just last month … he’s alive … I swear it.”
Troy wasn’t sure what to think, “Where in Washington?”
“Suburbs … south … don’t know the address … close to the beltway.” With each passing breath, his voice became weaker and the pauses between phrases grew longer.
“His brother was named Joseph Sulzer. I take it he uses an alias.”
Benjamin nodded, “Yes … an alias.”
“What is it? What name does he go by?”
As his eyes rolled back into his head Benjamin only got three words out, “His … name … is …” Then his mouth stopped moving as the last gust of air passed from his lungs and out his mouth.
Troy felt for a pulse, he found one but it was weak. “Harry,” he screamed.
A few seconds later Harry crouched low next to him.
“Keep him alive Harry, we need the name he was about to tell me.”
Harry nodded and got to work on the half dead man. “We need to evac him stat. He needs blood and a surgeon if he’s gonna stand any chance.”
“I’m going topside to call for the nuke recovery team and also get a SORT (Special Operations Resuscitation Team) team here ASAP for Benjamin,” said the Colonel.
Troy nodded, “You better warn the SecDef as well. They’ll need to implement Operation Rapture.”
Troy felt her presence and looked over his shoulder. Truth be told he could smell her, the sweet aroma of her skin was unmistakable. His fierce gaze zeroed in on her as the weight of what she did struck him.
“Cap, it was him or the Jackal, if I had any other choice …” her voice trailed off as she didn’t know what else to say.
His expression softened but he didn’t reply. Deep down he knew she made the right call. There was no denying he would have done the exact same thing. His anger gave way to frustration as his mind kept asking, How the hell do we stop the attack in time?
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Sam instinctively knew she made the right call and could tell from how Troy’s countenance changed he agreed.
The Jackal stood next to her and gripped her right shoulder, giving it a firm squeeze. She turned towards him as he mouthed the words, Thank you.
She just smiled and nodded before she leaned in close and whispered, “Now we’re even, I’ve got no more red in my ledger,” before she gave him a little pat on the backside with her right hand.
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Up Next ... Part X ... The Conclusion
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