by Richard Bard
“It’s like two chords together on the piano,” Sarafina said, “only it’s much prettier.” She pointed to a symbol on the surface. “What about that key?”
Jake looked down at his hands. He hadn’t realized each was centered over one of the colorful shapes. Through Sarafina’s eyes and ears, the tabletop was an instrument meant to play musical notes. Somehow her savant-like musical ear allowed her to hear something the rest of them could not. Where he felt vibrations, she heard a note or chord, while Tony and Francesca heard and felt nothing. Jake lifted one hand and placed it on the glyph that she indicated.
The vibration shifted, and Sarafina smiled. She pointed at a different shape. “Now that one.”
Francesca edged closer to Jake. She placed her hand on his back, as if sensing his feelings of wonder.
Tony kept his eyes on his watch.
Jake moved his hand to the next symbol. Sarafina smiled again. Without prompting, Jake moved his hands across each of the glyphs. When he was finished, Sarafina pursed her lips and pointed at three of them. “Those three are wrong. They don’t belong.”
His eyes furrowed in concentration, Jake studied the three shapes. He mentally deleted them and shifted the remaining eight around in his head. His mind raced through a multitude of calculations and comparisons. After several breaths it came to him. “That’s it!”
He turned to thank Sarafina when a glimmer caught his eye under the lace collar of her night clothes. He lifted it and found a thin square of pressure-sensitive film stuck to the underside of the lace. It was no larger than a postage stamp. He peeled it off and held it up to the light. It looked like a small microchip.
Tony reacted first. “Damn, it’s a locator.”
Jake and Tony exchanged a quick glance. “Go!” Jake said, sticking the film on his own clothing. “I’ll catch up.”
“But, Jake…” Francesca’s voice trailed to a sob.
Jake released his touch on the obelisk and was shaken as the effects of the drug rushed back into his consciousness. He put his arms around Francesca and squeezed her tight. He whispered in her ear, “You have to trust me.”
Tears welled up in her eyes. She sniffled and nodded. Jake followed them as far as the exit.
“You sure about this?” Tony asked.
“I’m sure,” Jake said.
Jake’s parting look said in no uncertain terms, Don’t wait for me.
Tony grimaced. Then, with a quick nod, he ushered Francesca in front of him and disappeared into the tunnel.
Chapter 46
Hindu Kush Mountains, Afghanistan
FRANCESCA WIPED THE TEARS from her eyes while they ran. She understood the look that had passed between Jake and Tony. Jake was sacrificing himself so they could get away.
She couldn’t believe she was losing him again. Leaving his side after everything that had happened left her with a profound emptiness that clawed at her stomach. She felt like a hummingbird with no wings, unable to reach the flowers that would sustain her life.
When they left Jake in the cavern, Francesca saw a dark cloud pass over Sarafina’s features. This time she didn’t have a promise from Jake that everything would be all right. She kept her head pressed tight to Tony’s chest, her little hands clinging to his clothing as he ran through the winding service tunnel. Her eyes had taken on the same vacant expression that Francesca had seen when Sarafina had first come to the institute after her parents were killed. The young girl had retreated back into herself. Francesca was tempted to do the same.
The tunnel grew steeper, leading them up one level. From there Tony used the scribbled map on his notepad to guide them through a myriad of twists and forks, finally bringing them to this tunnel where they now huddled, just thirty yards from the main entrance to the cavern complex.
They weren’t alone.
Just ahead of them in the main corridor, fifty of Battista’s men were crouched on either side of the passageway leading to the clearing outside, blocking their exit.
***
Tony pressed his finger to his ear and whispered into his lapel microphone, praying he was close enough to the exit to get reception. “Becker, do you read me?”
The signal was faint. “Sarge! Where the hell are you? The fog is clearing. If you’re not out in the next three minutes, this show will be all over. There are at least forty men hidden in the rocks outside just counting the seconds.”
“Yeah, and there are another fifty waiting to rush out of the cavern,” Tony said.
“The bleedin’ mongrels are everywhere. It’s now or never, Sarge!” Becker said.
Tony’s mind raced through his options. He soaked in the fearful expression on Francesca’s face, and he felt the warmth of Sarafina’s little body against his chest.
It was the borrowed boots on Francesca’s feet that sparked his plan.
“Stay here and don’t make a sound,” Tony whispered. “I’ll be right back.” He lifted Sarafina out of her sling and handed her to Francesca. As he stood up to leave, he added, “Cover her eyes.”
Tony knew he’d have one shot at this. At least he was dressed for the part. Slinging the AK over his shoulder, he put on his best game face and stepped into the main corridor.
The wide tunnel was darkened, the lights out to protect the night vision of the dark silhouettes hugging the walls. Tony sensed dozens of tense eyes looking his way. As he stepped toward the man closest to him, Tony lowered his voice and laced it with authority. “You. Come with me. Quickly. I need your help.”
The young jihadist hesitated but only long enough to digest the menace in Tony’s eyes. He rose out of his crouch, and Tony let him lead the way into the service tunnel. When they turned the second corner and came upon Francesca and Sarafina huddled against the wall, the man stopped short, his eyes locked on the girls.
In one swift motion, Tony cupped the man’s chin in one hand, the back of his head in the other, and gave a violent twist, snapping the man’s neck and killing him instantly. The body slumped to the floor.
Tony unwrapped the soiled keffiyeh from the man’s head, tossing it to Francesca. “Put this on.”
The man’s clothes were next.
While Francesca dressed, Tony removed his vest and dishdashah and put Sarafina back in his sling, talking to her with a gentleness as seasoned as a doting father’s. “Sweetie, I’m going to hide you under my clothes, and we’re going to run out of here and go home.”
Sarafina’s eyes were listless.
“Honey,” Tony said, “it’s important that you stay real quiet. Do you understand? Is it okay if I hide you under my big shirt?”
Sarafina’s eyes stared right through him, but he caught a slight nod of her head.
He unrolled his dishdashah over her and pulled on his vest, whispering into the top of his shirt, “Hold tight.” He was rewarded with a tug from her fists.
Francesca was ready, the tail of her keffiyeh wrapped over her nose and mouth. She had picked up the soldier’s AK-47 and was holding it in front of her like a pro. Tony was impressed. Her soft features would never stand up to close scrutiny, but in the darkness her disguise just might work.
Checking to make sure the AK’s safety was on, Tony said, “I don’t want you to try to use that thing. It’s just part of the disguise. Got it?”
Francesca nodded.
“No matter what happens, stay right behind me. Don’t stop for anything. And when I tell you to run, drop the rifle and fly.”
Francesca shuddered. She wiped the last of the tears from her eyes and sucked in a deep breath to steady her nerves. “Thank you for your help, Tony. Jake…is lucky to have you as a friend.”
Tony’s mouth tightened. He couldn’t believe he’d come this far only to leave Jake behind. The one last thing he could do for his buddy was to get the girls to safety. He was going to make that happen. He gave a quick update to Becker over his comm unit and confirmed the location of the claymores. Not wanting to freak Francesca out any more than nece
ssary, he checked her disguise one last time and said, “When we get outside, it’s important that we stick close to the rock wall on our right. Understand?”
Francesca nodded, but from the fear in her eyes, Tony wasn’t sure it registered.
He captured her gaze. “This is important, Francesca. Along the right wall only, okay?”
“I understand,” Francesca said, her voice shaking.
With Francesca behind him, Tony entered the main corridor and turned toward the exit, walking with purpose through the gauntlet of Battista’s soldiers. He noticed that something had changed. The air was thick with tension, and the familiar clicks of weapon checks bounced off the walls around him. They were about to make their move.
Ten paces from the exit, Tony saw a large man silhouetted against the thinning fog that swirled at the mouth of the cave. He had one hand raised in the air like a starter at a relay race. His other hand held a comm unit to his mouth.
Tony rushed forward, his voice low but urgent. “Hold, you fool! He’s ordered us to wait. Check the alternate frequency.”
In an organization ruled by fear, no one dared disobey the leader’s orders. Tony was counting on that. He only needed a few seconds.
The man’s hand came down, and he fiddled with the frequency knob on his comm unit.
Tony and Francesca moved past him into the fog.
The officer’s response was immediate. “Stop where you are!”
Tony grabbed Francesca by the arm and started to run, hoping that the thinning mist covered their backs. He steered her toward the right wall of the clearing just as a blast of gunfire ricocheted off the earth where they had just been. Tony rushed her forward. “Run!”
Francesca dropped her rifle and sprinted along the wall. Tony stayed behind her, shielding her body from the bullets that bit into the ground beside them. He heard a shouted command followed by a pounding of boots.
***
Becker tensed when he heard the muffled gunshots coming from the other end of the foggy vale. Tony and Francesca were in trouble.
Tony’s breathless voice filled Becker’s headset. “We’re moving fast, but they’re right on our tail.”
“Stay glued to that right wall, Sarge!” Becker said.
Damn this wind, Becker thought. In a couple of minutes it would be clear enough for Battista’s men to make their move, more than one hundred of them. They had to get off this mountain, and quick.
Radioing the team, Becker yelled, “Heads up! Sarge and the girls should be through any second, and they’ve got company.” He flipped his HUD to infrared to try to get a glimpse of them before they popped out of the thinning fog.
“Juice,” Becker said into his mike, “as soon as they get here, lead them to the cliff ASAP. Tark is waiting for them with the gear. The rest of you, waste anything that moves.” Becker had the remote control for the twin fifty-caliber auto-turrets in his hand, the safety guard flipped up, his thumb on the arming switch. It was the last trick he had up his sleeve. He hoped it would be enough.
On the infrared screen of his HUD, he caught a glimpse of two pink-tinged figures moving fast. A couple of beats later, Francesca and Tony popped through the mist, breathing hard. Before they were two paces into the clearing, Becker saw several more glowing figures on his HUD right behind them. “Tangos!”
Two shots rang out from Maria’s sniper rifle on the ridge behind him. Two of the forms crumpled inside the mist. The dozen that followed spread out in the fog and kept coming, somehow avoiding the remaining five claymores. Their AK-47s were firing blindly ahead of them. The team returned fire, and the night was blistered with staccato blasts from a score of automatic weapons. Tracer rounds from Ripper’s LWRC rifle speared the fog. Becker held his breath, waiting for Tony and Francesca to get past the boulder that marked the edge of the twin auto-turrets’ field of fire.
Becker saw Tony shove Francesca behind the large boulder, just before he was spun around by one of the AK’s heavy 7.62mm rounds hitting him in the arm. Tony landed hard on his side but was able to drag himself around the rock.
Becker smashed his thumb on the arming button. The black barrels of both weapons spun in unison from their crossfire positions on either side of the clearing, aimed at the heat signatures popping through the fog. The deep-thrumming, 260-rounds-per-minute explosions of the heavy-grain shells drowned out the assault weapons, making them sound like pop guns by comparison. The huge slugs ripped through Battista’s men like red-hot pokers through lard. All of the lead targets went down, a dozen or more men ripped to shreds in less than four seconds. The guns went quiet and re-centered on their turrets, waiting patiently for their next target.
***
Tony sat up, his heart pounding in his ears. His left arm was on fire and bleeding badly. The round had missed the bone and passed clean through the meat of his muscle, but it still hurt like hell. Sarafina shuddered against his chest, a quivering whimper leaking from under his dishdashah. He patted her back through his clothes. “It’s okay, honey. We’re with friends now. You did great.”
While Tony spoke, he studied Francesca sitting next to him. The fright in her eyes seemed to soften as she listened to Tony’s soothing words to Sarafina.
“Slow, deep breaths,” Tony said.
Juice moved over to them in a low crouch, his huge hands moving with the speed and dexterity of an ER doctor. He pulled a SOF Tactical Tourniquet from his pack and cinched it tight above the wound in Tony’s arm. He checked for a zero pulse below the strap to confirm it was set correctly and then jabbed a syringe of local anesthetic above and below the wound. He spoke while he worked. “Any holes I can’t see?”
“Not yet,” Tony said.
“Let me take the little girl, and then we move,” Juice said.
Tony wrapped his good arm around the shivering bulge under his dishdashah. “No way. She stays with me.”
Juice furrowed his brow and then shrugged. “Whatever, holmes. Either way, we’ve got to go now.”
Juice reached out and took Francesca’s hand. “Stay close, and keep your head down.” He alerted the team on the radio. “We’re on the move.”
They’d taken three paces when an RPG blasted a crater on the slope just above their position. Gravel and bits of rock pelted the ground around them. Francesca stumbled. Juice caught her arm before she fell and propelled her forward. Tony was next to them, his good arm snug around Sarafina. Gunfire erupted behind them, the tangos searching for targets. The fifty-cals opened up again.
Tony heard Becker’s shout over the radio, trying to keep the team in position for as long as possible to cover their exit. “The fog’s almost gone. Get ready to break.”
His voice was drowned out by four ear-splitting RPG explosions. Both of the auto-turrets went silent. With the weapons out of commission, Battista’s full force would be charging through the clearing.
The welcome blast of one of the claymores gave Tony hope as he ran down the path after Juice and Francesca. The first explosion was followed by another. The tangos were paying a heavy price but not enough to stop the bulk of their force from running down their targets. The AK gunfire faded for a few seconds, but when it returned, it came on with the fury of a stampede of wild horses.
Tony checked his watch while he ran, wincing from the pain of twisting his wrist. Ten minutes until his charges went off deep in the mountain.
Jake isn’t going to make it.
Becker’s screaming voice broke over the radio, the chatter of his weapon echoing through his microphone. “Time to go, mates. Give ’em hellfire, then cross-cover back to the cliff. Now!”
Tony knew that Papa, Snake, and Ripper each had 40mm fuel-air grenades loaded into launchers on the underside of their assault rifles. He didn’t hear the hollow whoop of their release, but he felt the heat on his back when the night behind him lit up like an instant sunrise as the thermobaric grenades ignited into an expanding high-pressure inferno that filled the near end of the clearing.
/> Tony, Juice, and Francesca entered the narrow cliffside evac point to find Tark scanning the ridgelines for targets through the Raptor nightscope of his HK 416. Beside him, BASE jumping gear was spread out in ten neat piles along the edge of the cliff, ready for quick donning, one kit for each of them, including Jake.
Tark looked at Tony. “Jake?”
Tony shook his head. He walked over and kicked the last set of gear off the edge, not wanting to leave it for their pursuers. He heard Francesca gasp as it disappeared into the darkness.
Tony reached down and grabbed one of the chutes. He slipped it over his good arm but needed Juice’s help to get it over the other. As soon as it was cinched tight, Tony took a cover position behind a boulder. He rested the muzzle of his assault rifle on the boulder and aimed it at the pass using his one good hand.
Tark hurried over to Francesca. She sucked deep gulps of air into her mouth. Tears flowed down her cheeks, and it looked like she was about to lose it. Tark helped her into a special tandem harness, talking fast to distract her. “Now don’t you worry about a thing, darling. I’ve done hundreds of tandem jumps with first-timers back home in Charleston, and every single one of them absolutely loved it.” He discarded her keffiyeh and strapped a pair of wind goggles over her eyes. Spinning her around so her back was to him, he clipped her harness to his, slipped on his own goggles, and before she had a chance to think about it, he slipped his right arm around her slender waist, lifted her off the ground, and ran headlong over the edge of the cliff.
Tony heard Francesca’s scream fade as she disappeared from sight.
Staggered gunfire echoed through the pass from the clearing, getting louder. The team should have been here by now. Juice finished donning his gear and moved in beside Tony, his Grendel at the ready. Tony was torn between his desire to cover the rest of the team until they were safely out and the need to get Sarafina out of harm’s way.
“Sarge, I got this,” Juice said. He gestured toward the quivering bulge under Tony’s clothes. “She’s gotta be gone.”
Tony nodded and rose to his feet. He saw Maria rush into the clearing and knew the rest of the team would be close behind. He turned to make his move toward the edge when gunfire exploded from the ridgeline above them. A stream of bullets tore into the ground around the Chechen woman. She went down hard. Tony scrambled for cover behind the boulder.
