“So, we’ll be on our own?” Zeke asked.
“Yes. It’s the only way. Gentlemen, if you’re not interested in taking this one, I can see if someone else is available. We have some recruits who are halfway through their training, but I don’t know that they’re ready for this. Again, there’s always the possibility that you could come under attack. You two have been through all the training necessary to complete this mission. You are ready for fieldwork. We just had to wait for the right time. You succeed with this one, and I think it’s safe to say you’ll be at the top of the list for some higher profile missions.”
He watched as the two friends sitting across from him exchanged an excited glance. They were salivating, chomping at the bit. Madic knew exactly how to play these two. He’d learned enough about them to know their desires and their problems, and was able to play on all of them.
“So, what do you say, gentlemen? Can I count on you?”
The two exchanged another questioning glance and then turned as one toward the director.
“Yes, sir,” Zeke said.
“You can count on us,” Phoenix added.
“Good. I’m going to introduce you to your handler. She will be running point on everything for you during your mission. You’ll also need comms and tech support over there. They won’t be in the truck with you, but will relay everything that’s going on from Bagram. We have several people capable of running that job.” He reached forward and shuffled a few papers, scanning the names and faces printed on the sheets.
“Sir,” Zeke interrupted. “If it’s not too much to ask, I have someone in mind for that job.”
Madic already knew who he was going to suggest, but acted surprised. “Oh?”
“Gary Freeman, sir. He’s the best at that kind of stuff. I know he may not be fully trained for what you need, but if he is, I think we’d be most comfortable with him as our comms guy.”
Madic kept a smile to himself. It was exactly what he’d hoped for. Gary Freeman was almost as much of a screw-up as these two. Now he’d get rid of three birds with one stone. Freeman, of course, wouldn’t be in the truck with them. He’d eventually return unless another job was found for him overseas. But it bought Madic time to figure something out for him.
“Are you sure?” the director asked, playing it off as though he wasn’t certain that was a good idea. He couldn’t give in too easily. Otherwise they might suspect something was up.
“I agree with Zeke on this one, sir,” Phoenix said. “Gary is an excellent resource with all things technology. I’m sure once he’s given the details, he’ll be more than capable of handling it.”
Madic stood up and walked over to the window to his left. He looked out at the Capitol Building in the distance. Washington Monument rose above it, far beyond on the other side of the mall. He took the cigar out of his mouth and held it between his fingers. He stood there for nearly a minute as if contemplating whether or not he should put Gary on the mission with them, although the decision had already been made.
He abruptly turned around and raised the cigar, pointing it at the two men. “Okay, you can have Freeman on this one. I just hope you’re right. I know he’s good at what he does but this is fieldwork. He doesn’t have the training you two have. But, he’s going to be staying on the base, so he shouldn’t get into too much trouble. Now, it’s time for you to meet your handler.”
Madic stepped back to his desk and pressed one of the buttons on his office phone. “Mrs. Carson, could you please send in Miss Benson.”
“Yes, sir. Right away.” The woman’s voice that came from the intercom was shrill and nasally. Zeke and Phoenix had passed her on the way in. She had goofy red hair that they imagined had been up in curlers for two hours earlier that morning and every other morning.
A few seconds later, the door latch twisted and a blonde woman in a black suit jacket and matching pants walked through. She wore a white blouse that opened at the top to expose the base of her neck. Her icy blue eyes scanned the room. It was an instinctive action, something that had been indoctrinated in her through long hours of training. There was no mistaking that this woman was an agent like them, maybe better than they were since she was one of the higher-ups now.
There was one other thing about her that Zeke and Phoenix immediately realized. She was the blonde woman that had found them in their precarious position in the break room the day before.
They exchanged an awkward glance and then stood up. Phoenix was the first to extend his hand. “Hello, I’m Phoenix—”
“Yes, I know who you are. I remember seeing you in the break room yesterday.” She turned her eyes to the director, ignoring Phoenix’s offer of a handshake. “And I want to go on record as saying that I think this is a mistake, sir. This mission is far too delicate for the likes of these two.”
“That’s not very nice,” Zeke said.
“The incident in the break room yesterday was all just a silly accident. I assure you, these are the right guys for the job.” The director motioned to her with one hand. “This is Jessica Benson, gentlemen. She’ll be your handler for the operation. She has years of experience and is an expert in foreign cultures, business, and military operations.”
Zeke and Phoenix wondered how he’d known about the incident in the break room, then remembered there were cameras almost everywhere.
“Sounds like she can do it all,” Phoenix said, trying to offer an olive branch to the situation.
“Yes, I can,” she said, indignantly. “And I don’t have time to babysit a couple of rookies. This mission is vital to national security and we can’t risk it getting screwed up by the likes of you two.”
“Ouch,” Zeke said. “If you’re not nicer to me, I’m not going to ask you out.”
Phoenix rolled his eyes. His buddy was an HR nightmare waiting to happen and that comment only reiterated that.
One more reason Madic was all too happy to see him go.
“Oh, no,” Jessica said. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude. Please. Forgive me. Give me another chance?” She stepped toward Zeke with a hand outstretched.
Phoenix didn’t like her tone, but he didn’t have time to warn his friend.
Zeke was too busy checking her out, her lithe figure, the way her clothes clung to her in all the right places. He reached out his hand to take hers.
She wrapped her fingers around his hand, squeezed hard, and then yanked him forward, pulling him in close.
For a second, in his most fantastical dreams, Zeke might’ve thought she was going to hug him. But that wasn’t even remotely close.
With one swift move, she twisted his elbow and bent his arm behind his back. With her right foot, she swept his left foot out from under him, dropping him to his knees. Another step and she was behind him, stretching the joints in his arm and shoulder to breaking point as he yelped in discomfort.
She leaned down and pushed his wrist a little higher, sending more pain through his arm. “You and I are never going to be friends. We’re never going to be anything. And if I have my way, you two will never have another mission like this—ever. Understood?”
“Yes,” Zeke grunted through his teeth. “Got it.”
“Good.” She shoved him forward and he almost fell onto his face, barely catching himself with his hands outstretched.
Casually, he stood up from the floor, dusted off his clothes and cracked his neck from one side to the other.
“Good to see she’s had self-defense training,” Zeke commented, doing his best to blow off the embarrassing altercation. “She’ll do just fine, sir,” he said to Madic.
The director rolled his eyes and shoved a file to the edge of the desk. “This is your mission and objective. I don’t have to tell you three this is top level and highly classified. No one can know about it. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, sir,” Zeke and Phoenix said eagerly.
Jessica just nodded, still annoyed that she was here.
“Good. You leave t
omorrow for Afghanistan. I suggest you get a good night’s sleep, you have a long day ahead of you, and a longer journey. You’re going to need all the rest you can get. You’re dismissed.”
Zeke and Phoenix thanked the director and made their way out of the room. Zeke was still twisting his arm, working a shoulder to get the residual pain out of the joint. He cast one more glance back at Jessica, but she wasn’t looking at him. She was still facing the director. Apparently, she still had something she wanted to discuss with him.
They closed the door behind them and made their way down the hall, both full of excitement and a significant measure of trepidation. A new world was waiting for them out there and neither one of them were sure what it had in store.
Back in the director’s office, Jessica crossed her arms.
“Are you serious, sir? You’re trusting those two idiots with a highly sensitive, vital mission?”
“I know they don’t look like much, Miss Benson, but they are well-trained and they can handle the task. I assure you, it’s going to be fine. And besides, you’re their handler. I know you can get the job done. With you behind them, I don’t see how they could possibly fail.”
The truth was; Madic was doing everything he could to keep her grounded. Jessica had ambition, intelligence, and was highly skilled in several aspects of espionage, intelligence gathering, and analysis, as well as combat. In reality, she should have been a field agent, but she’d rubbed him the wrong way. She’d blown off his advances, and that didn’t sit well with the director. No one said no to him.
He knew there wasn’t much he could do, other than keeping her from getting what she wanted. Forcing her into constant frustrations, roadblocks, and barriers would eventually cause her to break. Then, she’d either give in or walk away from the job altogether. At this point, he was good with either solution.
She sighed. He was trying to patronize her and it wasn’t working, but what could she do?
“Fine,” she said. “But if this goes south, don’t say I didn’t warn you, sir,” she said, the last word carrying an ounce of venom.
“It will be fine. The weapons will be delivered on schedule and the war against the terrorists will finally take a significant turn. We’ll have something we can use on them that will cause every single would-be terrorist in the world to reconsider joining up with those vermin.”
Just like her two operators, Jessica would have no clue as to the real purpose of their mission. She didn’t know they were decoys, a diversion to allow the real missiles to be delivered by a pair of Madic’s best agents. It was a perfect plan, but one that required all involved—except him of course—to be entirely oblivious.
“I have to pack,” she said and turned to leave the room.
“Thank you, Miss Benson. I know I can trust you.”
She didn’t say anything, instead closing the door with a heavy thud behind her.
Madic twirled the cigar in his fingers. Everything was lining up perfectly.
5
The team of four stepped out of the military plane and walked down the ramp onto the tarmac at Bagram Air Base.
The second the rear gate opened, the plane’s occupants were smashed in the face with a biting wind. The true extent of the cold didn’t hit them, however, until their boots hit the runway.
Snow blew in from the northwest. Zeke and Phoenix narrowed their eyes and put their hands up to their foreheads to help block the freezing wind. Zeke’s eyes teared up almost instantly. He’d always had that problem with a cold. Whenever snow hit back home, he had to wear wraparound sunglasses or goggles to keep his eyes from watering too much.
He reached into his coat and pulled out his Oakley Turbines. They were wraparound shades, but they weren’t full coverage, so some of the wind still slipped by the frames and cut into his eyes. Still, it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been without them.
Phoenix struggled to fish his sunglasses out of his coat, but eventually found them and put them on as they walked away from the plane toward a convoy of Humvees. The vehicles were equipped with 50-caliber machine guns on the top, and thick, steel-plated armor all around.
Gary at least had glasses on. He pushed them closer up against his forehead and winced against the icy blast of wind. He was smaller and skinnier than the others, and the cold hit him at his core, with no muscle or fat to protect him.
Jessica walked ahead of them, seemingly unfazed by the abrupt greeting winter in the Middle East provided. Her long legs strode purposefully toward the convoy and the soldiers standing at attention in front of them.
An officer in desert fatigues and a matching winter coat stood in front of the rest of the soldiers. He was around six feet tall, and even though his outerwear it was easy to tell he was strong. Right away, Zeke and Phoenix knew he was the one in charge.
Jessica walked right up to him and gave a nod. “Major Paige?”
“Yes, ma’am,” the officer said. He pulled down the mask covering his mouth and revealed the dark brown skin beneath. He extended a hand and shook hers firmly. “Glad to see you all arrived safely. I trust there were no issues getting here?”
“No, sir.”
“Good.” The major looked at Zeke and Phoenix. “I’m Major DeMarcus Paige,” he said, reaching for Zeke’s hand first and then Phoenix’s. “You two must be with Beta Force.”
“Yes, sir,” Zeke said, holding back his pride. “Zeke Marshall. This here is Phoenix Underwood, and our communications specialist, Gary Freeman.” It felt good to be a part of something important, especially something that had a cool name like Beta Force. The second the director had offered the mission to him and told him the name of their unit, he was in.
“Your ride is right there.” He pointed to one of the Humvees near the front of the line. “Miss Benson, you’ll be with me in that one.” He pointed to the one right behind Zeke, Gary, and Phoenix’s ride. “We’ll be at the base in a few minutes. It’s just a short ride. There, we can go over the details of your mission, get you set up with your transport, and show you to your quarters.”
“Sounds good,” Phoenix said. He didn’t mention it, but he was starving. He hoped there was something hot to eat at the mess hall, though he was afraid it would be MREs for all. Not that those were so bad. He’d had them before on a camping trip and thought they were actually pretty good. Still, he’d give his right arm for a hot, juicy burger right about now. Okay, maybe not his arm, but one of his toes.
“We’ll also get y’all something to eat.” It was as if he’d read Phoenix’s mind.
“Let’s roll out,” Paige said.
He turned around unceremoniously and made his way over to his Humvee, leaving Phoenix, Gary, and Zeke to escort themselves to their ride. When Paige reached his vehicle, he opened the back door for Jessica, who got in without so much as a look back at the other three members of her team.
The soldier standing by their vehicle opened the back door and motioned them in. The three climbed aboard and the driver slammed the door behind them. Within a minute, the convoy was rumbling down the tarmac toward the base.
The sky was gray, thick with heavy clouds that spat snow flurries down onto the airfield. Small drifts of powder collected on the tents and buildings of the base. Despite the weather, the airfield was as busy as a beehive.
Soldiers were jogging in neat rows and columns on the outer edge of the base. Dozens of others were busy working on aircraft: helicopters, planes, and surveillance drones.
It seemed like there were a million jobs to be done on the base and every single one was being attended to at that very moment.
“It always like this at the end of the day?” Zeke asked the driver.
For a moment, the man didn’t answer, almost as if he was annoyed at the question. When he did respond, it was curt. “End of the day, sir. We wind everything down, make sure all tasks are complete. It’s getting close to chow time, too, so everyone will be in a hurry to eat.”
“I can relate,” Phoenix said, though
he regretted it the second he glanced into the rearview mirror and met the driver’s irritated eyes.
The driver was a grunt, a real military man. He probably considered the three of them to still be children. In his eyes, they were still civilians, no matter what training they’d gone through or what agency they worked for.
The convoy pulled around the tall fence that was topped with razor wire. They stopped at a security gate and then when the first vehicle was clear, everyone else followed it through and into the heart of the activity.
They drove around to the back of one of the two-story, beige buildings and parked next to it, each Humvee lining up with the rest.
There were several buildings just like it, all lined up in a perfect row. Zeke had expected to see more tents, but then again, he hadn’t expected the temperatures to be this cold. He’d packed some cold weather gear just in case but was now thinking he should have brought more.
Bagram Air Base looked more like a small town than a military installation. There were hundreds of buildings. Some were the two-story variety like those nearby. Others looked like massive, rigid tent structures with sharply angled roofs that merged in the center.
“This is where you three will be staying,” the driver said. “We’ll show you to your quarters. Then you’ll follow Major Paige to the mess hall. After chow, you’ll be briefed.”
“Sounds good,” Gary said. “Thanks for the lift.”
Operation Zulu Page 4
