by C. G. Cooper
“Cowboy says we need to get some fuel soon,” said Travis.
“We can’t avoid it?”
Travis shook his head. “I think we’re already on fumes.”
“How long will it take?”
“Cowboy says it’ll take no more than an hour and a half.”
Dunn looked down at his watch. “That means we probably won’t be over the target again until after midnight.”
Travis shrugged. “I don’t know what else we can do. Any word from home?”
“The weather’s still too bad to see anything. I’m sure that even if we had Neil to hack into the spy satellites, they wouldn’t be able to get us a clear picture.”
Travis did not like waiting. He hated to think what might happen if they couldn’t parachute in.
“Let’s play it by ear and keep our fingers crossed that the weather clears after we get some fuel. Who knows, we may get lucky.”
“I hope you’re right, Skipper, because I’d really like to get out of this aircraft.”
Chapter 35
Grand Teton Mountain Range, Wyoming
11:26pm, September 28th
After some haggling, the final wire transfer was made to Ponder’s account.
“Now that you have your money, Mr. Ponder, would it be okay to use Neil in your server room?” Benjamin asked politely.
“Now that I have my money, you can do whatever you want with that little bastard.” Ponder downed the remnants of his drink and slammed the glass onto the table with glee. He could almost smell the money he’d just made. Nick Ponder was finally a wealthy man.
“You sure I can’t get you a drink, Benjamin?”
“My religion precludes me from drinking alcohol, Mr. Ponder, but thank you for the offer. Now, can you show me to the server room?”
+++
Twenty minutes later, Ponder left Neil with Benjamin and his men in the server room. Neil was sitting at the main computer terminal. Benjamin handed him a piece of paper with handwritten instructions. Neil read over the notes and looked up incredulously.
“Are you kidding me? I won’t do this.”
“Yes, you will, Mr. Patel.” Benjamin extracted a pistol from his trousers and rested the barrel against Neil’s cheek. “You now belong to my superiors. These are the first orders you will obey from your new masters.”
“I won’t do anything for you fucking terrorists!”
Benjamin smiled patiently and nodded to one of his men. The large henchman reached over, grabbed Neil’s ear with one hand and pulled out a knife with the other.
“You will do as instructed or my friend here will take your body apart piece by piece. We will only take the parts that won’t hinder you in your duties. I would have thought that after losing your foot, you would already understand the gravity of the situation, Mr. Patel.”
Neil looked up at the man with absolute hatred. This man had orchestrated the kidnapping and murder of his parents. SSI had later conducted a clandestine operation to find the terrorist cell and eliminate its members. It had supposedly been an overwhelming success. Benjamin was supposed to be dead.
“Ah! I see you are still angered and confused by my appearance.” Benjamin replaced his weapon and sat down next to Neil. “You thought I was dead, no?”
Neil nodded.
“As you can see,” Benjamin gestured to his body, “I am still alive.”
“How?” growled Neil.
Benjamin grinned. “My people are not as stupid or primitive as you believe, Mr. Patel. It is quite common for our leadership to employ doubles to ensure our safety. The man your people killed in retaliation for your parents’ death was a perfectly crafted duplicate. I have had to stay concealed until the perfect time. It just so happened that my revenge coincided with the wishes of my superiors. You see, Mr. Patel, you have grown as arrogant as your father.”
Neil seethed and tears came to his eyes. “You don’t know anything about my father, you murderer!”
“I know much more than you think. Now, shall we get back to your first assignment?”
Neil glared at the man he’d killed over and over again in his dreams.
+++
Thirty minutes later, Neil’s task was complete.
“Are you happy now?” Neil asked, dejectedly.
“Quite happy, Mr. Patel. The sooner you come to realize the wisdom of complying with orders the first time, the easier your time will be.”
Benjamin motioned to his men. One of them picked up Neil and threw him over his shoulder.
As the blood rushed to his head, Neil masked his gloom by sending his mind to a happier place.
Chapter 36
Grand Teton Mountain Range, Wyoming
12:08am, September 29th
Ponder watched as the foreigner prepped the three snowmobiles Ponder had given them. He’d wondered how they would transport the crippled Patel down the mountain, and had asked Benjamin about it.
“We came prepared, Mr. Ponder.”
Benjamin waived one of his troops over. The big man walked over with his oversized pack.
“Show Mr. Ponder how we’re taking Mr. Patel down the mountain.”
The man nodded and unloaded the contents of the backpack. It turned out that the team of buyers had a collapsible sled. Fully constructed, it looked like an elongated cocoon. The sled would be completely enclosed and could be towed behind one of the snowmobiles.
“Aren’t you worried about the kid puking inside that thing?” Ponder asked.
The ride down the mountain would be treacherous. Ponder couldn’t imagine making the journey inside the sled.
Benjamin smiled. “Mr. Patel will be given sleeping medication prior to our departure.”
Not ten minutes later, all of Benjamin’s men had their gear stowed on the idling snowmobiles. Ponder walked over to the cocooned sled as Neil was being laid in. He watched curiously as Benjamin administered the anesthetic from a small syringe.
Ponder stood over Neil as the drug took hold. “Have a nice trip, Neil.”
Neil looked up at his previous captor. A look of amusement crossed his face. “Watch your back, Ponder.”
Ponder’s eyebrows furrowed. “What?”
Neil grinned like a drunk. “Oh, you’ll see.”
Before he could say another word, Benjamin stepped forward and closed and latched the lid.
“What was he talking about?” Ponder asked.
“I believe it was simply the effects of the medication. You never know what a person will say.”
Ponder’s bullshit radar was blaring in his head. Benjamin looked to be saying the truth, but his instincts were telling him something different. He finally shook the feeling off by thinking about all the money in his bank account.
The bearded mercenary grinned and patted Benjamin on the back, gruffly.
“No problem, buddy. You guys all set to go?”
Benjamin breathed an imperceptible sigh of relief. He’d thought Ponder wanted to press the point. This phase of his operation would be the trickiest. Once he and his men left Ponder’s compound he’d feel much better.
“We will be leaving momentarily, Mr. Ponder.”
“Well, you guys know how to contact me if you need anything in the future.”
“Thank you very much for your work and hospitality.”
The two men shook hands and parted.
Benjamin jumped on the lead snowmobile and the vehicles left the compound.
Ponder waited until the large doors closed and then turned to go back to the main level. Between transferring his newfound fortune and dealing with the remnants of the SSI team, he still had a lot of work to do.
+++
Benjamin grinned under his mask as his small convoy made its way off Battleship Mountain. It was always fun dealing with greedy Americans. They were so easy to manipulate.
+++
Ponder sat down at his laptop and typed his password. He took another sip of his whiskey as the web browser loaded his bank’s ho
mepage. After glancing at a small notebook he’d pulled out of his pocket, Ponder entered his account ID and password. He waited impatiently as the website took him through its various safeguards.
Finally at his dashboard, the large man clicked on his account.
“What the fuck?” he whispered.
The screen showed that his account had a zero balance. Frantically, he refreshed the page. The balance didn’t change.
Ponder could feel his blood pressure rising. He wanted to kill someone. Picking up his landline, he dialed his broker’s number from memory. The man picked up on the second ring.
“Yeah?”
“It’s me,” Ponder responded, on the verge of exploding.
“I know who it is, Nick. It’s like two in the morning here. What do you need?”
“I need you to get your fucking ass out of bed and find out where my fucking money went!”
There was a commotion on the other end as the broker jumped out of bed, knocking several items off his nightstand in the process.
“What are you talking about, Nick?”
“I told you. My fucking money disappeared!”
Ponder could hear the man clicking away at his own computer.
“Okay, I’m in your account. It says here that the money was wired out less than an hour ago. What am I missing here, Nick?”
“I’m putting you on hold. Don’t go anywhere.”
Ponder replaced the phone on his desk and ran for the server room. The only thought in his head as he blasted past two stunned guards was, I’m gonna kill those fucking ragheads!
+++
He berated himself for not keeping a closer eye on Benjamin. Ponder realized too late that his greed had seriously clouded his judgment.
Logging onto the computer in the server room, he tapped his foot impatiently, waiting for the thing to load.
A new window popped up.
“What the hell?”
Words started appearing in the window as if someone was writing.
Mr. Ponder, We will no longer be needing your services. - Benjamin
Ponder picked up the flat screen monitor and threw it against the wall.
“Motherfucker!”
Chapter 37
Grand Teton Mountain Range, Wyoming
12:30am, September 29th
“Get your asses moving!” Ponder commanded. His men were hurrying to comply with the rushed orders. Some were still scrambling to get their clothes on.
After destroying half of his server room, Ponder had run through his compound rousing the rest of his troops. He’d even radioed all his men posted outside the compound to assemble in the oversized garage they were now prepping in. His only hope of getting his money back was to catch the double-crossing Pakistani.
“Take only what you need. We’re not coming back,” Ponder ordered.
The mercenaries looked up in confusion. One man had the nerve to question his employer.
“What do you mean we aren’t coming back? All my shit’s in my room!”
Instead of answering, Ponder stepped up to the man, pulled out his pistol, and shot him in the face. The boom echoed then left the room in silence.
“Anyone else have something smart to say?”
They all looked down at their dead colleague in shock, then went back to the task of preparing the remaining snowmobiles.
Ponder breathed heavily as he held his gun out, ready to fire. Calming somewhat, he knew it hadn’t been the smartest thing to thin out his already minimal troop strength. At least his men now knew how serious the situation was.
The Ponder Group’s sole owner stomped out of the room, his mind in full crisis mode. He had a few last things to take care before leaving. Nick Ponder was planning on never coming back to his fortress on Battleship Mountain.
+++
Cal’s team had made good time getting around the mountain. They were at their final checkpoint trying to get a look at Ponder’s hideout.
“Looks like the weather might be clearing a bit,” MSgt Trent observed.
Cal looked up into the darkness with his night vision goggles. He couldn’t tell.
“We’ll break up into the same groups as last time,” said Cal to the group gathered near him. “Remember to keep your eyes out for Ponder’s guys. Who knows where he’s got them posted.”
None of the men commented. They knew their responsibilities and were mentally preparing for the final descent toward the hideout. If the enemy presented itself, their training would take over.
“If there aren’t any questions, I’ll see you boys on the objective,” finished Cal.
They dispersed and Cal caught up to Brian.
“You sure you remember how to fire that thing, Doc?”
Brian looked down at his weapon. “Shouldn’t you be worried about making sure you don’t get lost again, jarhead?”
The two friends looked at one another. They’d left the tension between them behind. Both warriors knew how dangerous this last part would be. It was entirely possible that they could be walking into a trap.
“Doc, I don’t know how to say…”
“I know, Cal. Don’t worry. You know I never would have missed this. Every one of us is doing this for Neil. You’ve done good. Shit, we’ve been through worse, right? I’ll see you down there, okay?”
Cal managed a nod as Brian turned back to his assigned team.
I hope I’m not leading these men to their deaths, Cal thought darkly.
+++
Just as his team set out, Daniel silently ordered the formation to halt. Through his night vision goggles, Cal could see each man quickly crouch down. He made his way up to the sniper’s position.
“What is it?”
Daniel pointed down the mountain. “I think I just saw a bunch of snowmobiles head that way.” Daniel motioned to the northeast.
“Could you see how many?” Cal strained to see what Daniel was talking about. He could just make out headlights moving in the direction Daniel had indicated.
“I’m thinking ten to fifteen vehicles.”
“Could you make out any of the drivers?”
“No. Visibility is definitely clearing, but it’s not that good. I’ve got a bad feeling about so many leaving at once, Cal.”
Cal didn’t know what to think. Where were that many vehicles going? Is it a decoy? Cal wasn’t sure how many men Ponder had. The whole thing was one big guessing game.
“Let’s get down there fast, Daniel.”
The sniper nodded and motioned for the rest of the men to get up and move out.
Cal did something at that moment that he rarely did. He said a silent prayer. God, please tell me that Neil is still down there. When no response came, Cal got back into his position in the moving formation. Time was working against them.
Chapter 38
Grand Teton Mountain Range, Wyoming
1:04am, September 29th
“We’re over the objective, Trav,” Cowboy announced over the C-130’s loudspeaker.
Travis stood up and walked to the cockpit. Keeping his promise, Cowboy’s friends on the ground had made quick work of the refueling. Most were combat vets and highly experienced in getting planes back over the battlefield, posthaste.
“How’s the visibility?” Travis asked.
“The snow gods must be on our side this morning. Believe it or not, I think it’s clearing up.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Now, I’m not saying it’s gonna be like a sunny day on the beach, Trav. Your drop is still gonna be hella dangerous.”
“You just worry about getting us over the target. We’ll let our GPS guide us in.”
Cowboy nodded and downed the rest of his third Red Bull. “You wanna stay up here while I get the video feed up?”
“Yeah.”
“Give Lieutenant Granes over there a second, and he’ll let you take a look.”
Cowboy’s co-pilot fiddled with his instruments, then looked up.
“I think we�
��ve got some tangos down there, Captain.”
Travis moved over for a better look. The co-pilot had the aircraft’s thermal imaging running.
“Tell me what you see, Mr. Haden,” said Lt. Granes.
It took Travis a second to take the picture in.
“That looks like a convoy of some kind. Wait, up on this mountain?”
Lt. Granes nodded. “I make twelve or thirteen small vehicles, or snowmobiles considering the terrain.”
“They look like they’re going pretty damn fast,” Travis observed. “Are they chasing something?” He asked in alarm.
“Let me see.” Lt. Granes panned the camera in the direction of the convoy’s movement. Seconds later, he zeroed in on a smaller group of three vehicles. “A hundred bucks says that’s what the others are after.”
“Shit. I wish I knew who the hell they are.”
“Who who is?” Todd Dunn asked from over his shoulder. None of the men in the cockpit had realized he’d walked up behind them.
“We’ve got two groups of snowmobiles down there. It looks like the larger group is chasing the smaller group,” said Travis.
“How large and how small?” Dunn asked.
“Thirteen in the big one and three in the smaller.”
“Any thoughts?”
“I hope to hell it’s Cal in the larger group.”
No one answered as they all digested the situation.
Dunn spoke first. “Captain Jennings, do you think you can find a spot ahead of that first group to drop in?”
Cowboy scrolled through his mapping system before replying. “Yeah, I think this’ll be as good a spot as any.” He tapped the screen to indicate the new drop zone.
“Skipper, have you tried calling Cal again?” Dunn asked.
“Fuck! I completely forgot.” Travis hurried to pull the satellite phone out of his cargo pocket. “I’ve got a signal.”
