Necessary Retribution

by Mike McNeff

  “Good idea.”

  Robin was jarred in his seat as the AN-12 landed on the strip at Rislpor. The pilot executed a short field landing and the plane shuddered as the engines screamed in reverse. The loadmaster and his crew started popping the turnbuckles on the restraining straps holding the Land Rovers as the rear door slowly opened. On the loadmaster's signal, Mike Collins started the engine and drove off the ramp into the night. Robin scanned the area to his right with his night vision goggles.

  “I don't see anyone around.”

  “Looks like we're clear on the left,” Marv offered from the back seat. A Spetsnaz soldier was the fourth man in their vehicle. Each vehicle had four men, with a mixture of Guardians and Spetsnaz.

  “All vehicles clear the aircraft,” Emmett advised.

  The three Land Rovers turned left onto a dirt road that went onto a feeder road to the N45 highway. The AN-12 roared off the runway and banked north to Osh. Less than two minutes had elapsed. Robin admired the pilot's skill. He did both a successful short field landing and a short field takeoff on a one mile secondary runway, chosen because it was almost a mile from the nearest building.

  Rob keyed his mic. “Road looks clear. Maintain blackout.”

  The vehicles turned onto the N45 and headed south. “Spread out. When you have half mile separation, turn your lights on.”

  Robin breathed a sigh of relief. At least his team's insertion went well. Burke's voice came over the radio. He and the First Sergeant Setchinko landed at Minhas Air Base.

  “Burke to Robin.”

  “Go ahead, Burke.”

  “Insertion successful. Doug says the suspect vehicle is thirty minutes out. I've sent a team to Peshawar.”

  “Roger. We'll have one team standing by to join you on the surveillance. The rest of us will head to Peshawar.”

  “Roger.”

  Robin looked at Mike. “I hope Ernie and Alex made it in.” Robin's satellite phone beeped. “Speak of the devil…you guys okay, Ernie?”

  “Yeah, we're good. Had a guy shine a light on us. We waved, he waved back and that was that. We should be in Peshawar in about an hour.”

  “Good. Contact me when you get there.”

  “Roger.”

  Colonel Rasha Bulechekura reached for the phone that jarred him out of a deep sleep.

  “What is it?!” He barked

  “So very sorry to disturb you, sir. This is Lieutenant Salishura.”

  The colonel sighed deeply. “Yes, Lieutenant.” He didn't want to dampen the enthusiasm of the good lieutenant, his most loyal and conscientious officer at Kohrat.

  “Sir, we heard a multi-engine aircraft land on the field and then take right off again. The only thing we saw was the exhaust flame from his engines.”

  “Is that it?”

  “No, sir. One of our sentries encountered three vehicles leaving the east side of the base.”

  “What happened?”

  “Well…ah…they waved at each other.”

  “Thank you for the alert, Lieutenant. I'm sure it's just those arrogant special forces practicing their missions without telling anyone.”

  “Oh, well, I'm so sorry for disturbing you, sir.”

  “Don't worry, Lieutenant. You did the right thing. Just note the activity in the log.”

  “Yes, sir. Thank you, sir!”

  The colonel laid back in his bed and soon fell back asleep.

  Ali Al-Shalabad kept an eye on the rear view mirror as he drove on the N5 highway towards Peshawar. He was relieved no blue lights were behind him. The operation was already running into problems.

  When he and Soli went into the house, the old woman started yelling, telling them to get out of her home. Then she grabbed Bacla and wouldn't let go. Ali pulled out his silenced Czech 9mm pistol and shot the old woman in the head. The young brother jumped on him and it took himself and Soli to knock the boy off and tie him up. They were going to take the younger brother all along as insurance to make sure Bacla would complete the mission, but he didn't plan on killing the mother. He looked in the rear view mirror again and saw the younger brother's eyes staring at him with burning hatred. He is going to be a problem.

  Robin assigned surveillance positions as the vehicle teams came into Peshawar. All teams were in position as Burke informed him the suspect vehicle was five miles from the city and still on the N5. His apprehension steadily increased. Conducting vehicle surveillance in the areas with narrow streets without being spotted was going to be tough. He planned to set up a perimeter around these kinds of neighborhoods and then deploy foot surveillance. This procedure would hopefully minimize the chance of detection.

  The suspect vehicle entered the city and immediately turned into an older neighborhood, with very narrow streets. Robin began setting up surveillance posts in an inner ring and an outer ring. Before he could deploy foot surveillance, the vehicle came out of the neighborhood.

  “Everyone watch it. He's checking for a tail.”

  At two in the morning, traffic was light, making it difficult for the team to change eyeball positions without being obvious. After going another mile on the main boulevard, the vehicle ducked into another neighborhood with narrow streets. Robin set up the posts and deployed foot surveillance. Several minutes passed without the suspect vehicle being spotted. Robin became very nervous. Then a Spetsnaz soldier came over the air in a whisper.

  “Bear Six, the vehicle is parked with lights out in an alley. He appears to be waiting to see if any surveillance comes by.”

  “Roger, Bear Six,” Robin answered. “Are you in a good position to maintain eyeball?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Good. It's your call.”

  More time went by, then the Spetsnaz soldier transmitted again. “Bear Six, the suspect vehicle is getting ready to move. He is heading out of the neighborhood the same way he came in.”

  “Roger, we'll pick him up when he comes out.”

  The suspect vehicle came out of the neighborhood and headed west at a speed faster than he had driven since he came into town. He stayed on the boulevard until he came to an industrial center near the airport and then turned onto a back street. He drove two blocks and pulled up in front of a loading door to a warehouse. A few seconds later, the door opened and the vehicle drove into the warehouse.

  “We've established our target location. I want the four closest teams to each drop off one person to set up a four point observation on the building. Watch out for counter surveillance,” Robin ordered over the radio.

  Four men jumped out of vehicles and moved quietly to the area surrounding the building, each taking up a position to watch a corner.

  “Okay, everyone else meet me three blocks to the south of the target.”

  The teams met Robin and he, Alex and Ernie made final assignments. Robin and Alex would lead a ten man assault team into the building upon Picushkin being identified as present. Burke and First Sergeant Setchinko would standby with a six man backup assault team. Ernie would lead the surveillance team ready to cutoff any escapes, if necessary. All teams deployed to their standby positions.

  A Spetsnaz man came on the radio. “There is a man sitting in a car near me. I believe he is counter surveillance.”

  “Has he seen you?” Robin asked.

  “Negative.”

  “Terminate him just before we move in.”

  “Roger.”

  “I have one too,” Willy advised. “I understand the order.”

  Mike Collins’ voice came over the radio, barely above a whisper. “Mike to Robin, another vehicle has pulled up to the loading door…standby…someone just came out of a side door and is shining a light into the vehicle…he's gone back into the warehouse, aaannnd the loading door is opening…looks like the dope is here!”

  Robin laughed at Mike's reference to their former jobs as narcotics officers. “Roger, Mike, can you get a closer look-see?”

  “Standby.”

  Mike Collins took a moment to listen to the en
vironment around him and do a visual 360° check. Satisfied it was clear, he moved in the shadows to the edge of the street. He looked and listened again then moved quickly to the west side of the warehouse. Laying down, he low crawled along the foundation to defeat any possible video surveillance. Mike came around to the north side where the doors were and inched up to a side door which had a window. He slowly raised up and looked in.

  Mike's pulse rose sharply. He saw what appeared to be two backpack nukes. An Anglo man showed Arab men the inside of one backpack. Another Anglo man stood with his arms folded and Mike recognized him as Picushkin from the pictures at the briefing. There were more armed Arab men in the area also. Mike tried the door knob and smiled as it moved. He backed away from the window and dropped down, pressing his transmit button. “Targets are on scene with two visible babies. Numerous armed suspects. Door is unlocked. Time to rock ‘n’ roll.”

  “Roger, Mike, we're inbound.”

  Picushkin watched as Poppy explained the mechanism sequence to the Arab teenager while another man translated. The boy's face was passive as he listened and Picushkin couldn't be sure the boy understood the explanation. Poppy finished and asked the boy if he understood. The boy nodded and then asked, “What is the code?”

  Poppy handed him a piece of paper and the boy looked at it for a moment and then said, “I thought there were twelve characters in the code. This paper only has eight.” Ali grabbed the paper.

  Poppy looked at Picushkin who stepped to Bacla and handed him a card. “When you are ready to detonate the bomb and have entered the first eight characters, call this number I will give you the final four characters.” Picushkin suddenly pressed the radio earpiece deeper in his ear. “There's trouble outside!” He yelled.

  Furious, Ali went for his pistol. His hand wrapped around the grip when he caught a movement in his peripheral vision. He turned and saw men coming quietly through the side door, one of whom pointed a submachine gun at him. The barrel flashed. It was the last thing Ali ever saw.

  When Mike made the call, Robin and the assault team moved quietly to the warehouse from their staging area just across the street. They stacked up at the door and Mike opened it. The team moved in and shooting immediately erupted with the muffled staccato of suppressed automatic weapons mixed with those loud reports from the terrorists’ AKs. Robin was the fourth man and scanning through the gun smoke and din he saw an Arab man dragging a teenaged boy toward an inside door. Robin acquired the man's head in his sights and squeezed the trigger. The Arab's head flew apart and the young boy collapsed to the ground. Robin scanned right and then left. Then the lights went out.

  Men yelled and several flashlights came on followed by more machine gun fire. In the glow of the flashlights, Robin caught a glimpse of a man coming at him from close quarters. He was so close Robin had to fend him off with the butt of his submachine gun. The man fell backwards and Robin fired a burst into the man's torso. The lights came back on.

  The Al-Qaeda guards were no match for the professional operators and all but two lay dead. The gun battle lasted less than a minute.

  Robin keyed his mic. “Warehouse is secure. Where's Picushkin?”

  A few seconds elapsed and then Ernie came up on the radio. “We're on him. A Mercedes sedan picked him up.”

  “Everybody please clear the frequency!” Gary called.

  “Go ahead, Gary.”

  “I'm following Picushkin. Ernie you're following what I think is an ISI agent and he's setting us up.”

  Robin's breath caught. “Shit, if he's right, we could be royally fucked!” Robin knew Gary well enough to know he wouldn't lay down bullshit at a time like this. He keyed his mic again. “All teams clear the area! Ernie, break off your surveillance! You've been compromised by ISI. Everyone get scarce!” Robin looked over and saw Jonathan with the older boy. “You know what to do with him.”

  “But Ahmed!” Jonathan protested.

  “We'll get Ahmed!”

  Jonathan saluted and headed for the door with Bacla.

  Alex had the Russian called Poppy and he and a soldier dragged the wounded man to the door. The backup assault team brought the vehicles up and everyone piled in to the car closest to them. Robin got in with Burke, Rocky and a Spetsnaz soldier. Alex and a Spetsnaz soldier took Poppy into First Sergeant Setchinko's Land Rover.

  “Where are you, Gary?”

  “We're headed into the airport. I'll keep you posted.”

  Burke pulled onto Airport Road and headed north. They had gone a mile when two police cars went speeding by them with lights and sirens on. Robin looked back to see if they would turn around, but they didn't. He also looked back at the First Sergeant's vehicle. “I wonder what's happening in that car,” he mused.

  The Spetsnaz soldier shrugged and said, “Major Popovitch will talk.”

  Robin turned around. I have no doubt about that. He keyed his mic. “Gary, where can we meet you?”

  “Turn right on Rafiqui Road. It's across from the entrance to the air base.”

  “Roger. Alex, you copy?”

  “Roger.”

  They met Gary on a darkened street just off Rafiqui Road. Alex walked up to Robin.

  “Picushkin went to Karachi. That's where the other two bombs are.”

  “Yeah, they got into a private jet. I got a partial tail number,” Gary said.

  “Alex, did he tell you where the bombs are?”

  “He said they were on a boat, but I don't know if he lied.”

  “How can you find out?”

  “I can't. Popovitch is dead. He bled to death from his wound, but he did say something that has me worried.”

  “What's that?”

  “He said, ‘Worse than Tunguska.’”

  “I don't know what that means.”

  “In the early nineteen hundreds, scientists believe a huge asteroid hit Siberia completely wiping out everything for over eight hundred square miles.”

  “Damn, we got to get to Karachi and we better do it now, before the ISI gets a bulletin out on us. Alex, you and I need to catch a plane from here. Burke tell Ernie to get the team back to Osh and get the boy from Jonathan. Tell him to do what he thinks is best when you guys get to Fatboy.” Robin looked at Alex. “Alex, I'm going to ask the CIA for help. Hopefully, they can pick up Picushkin at the airport and follow him. I think I can convince them not to talk to the ISI.”

  Alex shrugged. “We don't have much choice. Our closest assets are in India.”

  Robin got into the car and called Grassley.

  “Bill Grassley.”

  “Bill, it's Robin.”

  “I've been sitting here hoping you'd call.”

  “Do you have reliable assets in Karachi?”

  “We have a station there.”

  “Okay, Picushkin will be landing in Karachi in about two hours in a private jet…or more accurately, an ISI plane with a tail number ending with 712A. We need someone to pick up surveillance. We'll be there in two to four hours.”

  “Where are you?”

  “Moving and dodging the ISI. Bill, you can't call the Paks.”

  “I have to, it's protocol and I have no doubt we will soon be receiving inquiries about your activity.”

  “Lie to them. Do you want these Paks to get backpack nukes?”

  Grassley didn't answer.

  “Look, Bill we'll recover the nukes and take care of Picushkin. We'll be out of Pakistan in twelve hours. Work with me on this.”

  “All right, Rob. Call me when you get to Karachi.”

  FORTY-TWO

  ROBIN DROVE A RENTAL CAR slowly through the Karachi Airport looking for Alex. He flew in on Pakistan International Airlines while Alex took a flight with Shaheen Air. He stopped in front of the terminal area for Shaheen. A few seconds later, Alex appeared and Robin honked his horn. Alex jumped in the car.

  “Any problems getting here?”

  “There was interest in me when I bought my ticket, but nothing came of it. Did you have any troub
le?”

  “Like you, I got asked some strange questions and a guy tried to get someone on the phone, but he never connected. So, they let me go. Just the same, we should check for a tail. I'm going to stop up here and you need to take over driving while I coordinate with the CIA.”

  Robin pulled over and the men changed positions. Robin called Grassley.

  “I hope that's you, Rob.”

  “It is.”

  “We picked up Picushkin at the airport. He was with a man our guy says is a rogue ISI agent, whose job is to assist Jihadist terrorist groups. The ISI doesn't admit he's theirs, but he is. There was also an Asian man and they had a young boy. Standby while we connect you to our agents.”

  Robin heard some clicks and static, then a voice.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, I'm your contact. I'm Rob.”

  “Hi Rob, are you at the airport?”

  “Yes, how do we connect with you?”

  “Okay, the targets split up. Picushkin and the Asian guy went down to the Karachi harbor at The Defense Housing Authority Marina.”

  “Did they have the boy with them?”

  “Yeah, he was with them.”

  “How do we get there?”

  “I assume you have a map?”

  “Yeah, I picked one up from the rental agency.”

  “Look southwest from the airport to the water and you'll be in the general area.”

  “Okay, I see it.”

  “You want to get in Shahrah-e-Faisal Highway and head west.”

  “I see that.”

  “Then come south on Creek Avenue.”

  “Yep, I got it.”

  “You'll come to Zulfigar Street 1. Go down that street until you get to the Carlton Hotel. I'll be in the hotel restaurant. You better get moving. Shahrah-e-Faisal can get really jammed up.”

  “We're on our way.”

  The trip was 20 miles, but took an hour. The Karachi drivers drove like they were in a road race with a mix of bumper cars. Robin was glad Alex drove because they went through several serious traffic jams that would have tested Robin's patience, but Alex seemed unphased.