'Alas no:' Abzai replied. 'We waited in great alertness all through the night, but not one stranger appeared at the old village.'
'You must be patient,' Kharani said, not wanting to let him know there was a chance that the effort might be only a waste of time. The fighters had to feel that everything they did was important, in order to keep up their ardor for battle.
'Au!' Durtami agreed. 'When we apprehend the infidel dogs who twisted Kariska away from Islam, your hours of futility will be forgotten.'
'Yes, Amir,' Abzai said. 'Meanwhile I have discovered the village to be very defendable. I have also had the men construct some strong positions from some of the rubble that was scattered about.'
'Excellent:' Durtami said. 'You are doing a fine job, Brother Abzai. I am now promoting you to the rank of jak bresh--sergeant.'
Abzai's features broke into a wide grin. 'Sukhria--thank you, Amin'
'You are dismissed,' Durtami said. After the new sergeant left the room, the warlord turned to his chief lieutenant to resume their interrupted conversation. 'Are you sure about the news of a government team coming to register the village of Herandbe for future elections?'
'Absolutely, Amir,' Kharani said.
'May Allah curse them into Hades!' Durtami said. He took a deep, calming breath. 'I think this will be a chance to get some hostages. A million afghanis will prove very beneficial to our activities.'
'Of course, Amir.'
'Very well! You know what to do,' Durtami said. 'I will attend to it immediately, Amir.'
'Show no mercy!'
'I shall obey, Amir,' Kharani said. 'Your wrath is my wrath.'
Chapter 4
OPERATIONAL AREA 8 AUGUST
2200 HOURS LOCAL
THE Odd Couple Mike Assad and Dave Leibowitz moved silently across the firm ground of the valley, staying alert with the pessimistic apprehension that keeps professional combat troops vigilant and alive. A thick layer of clouds blocked the moon, but the darkness did not affect the two SEALs using AN/PVS-21 night vision system goggles. They had taken forty-minutes to travel a little more than a kilometer and a half, stopping every fifty meters to squat, look and listen during the move through the alien environment that held such a strong potential for danger.
They had left the remainder of the platoon in a defensive position at the base of East Ridge. The two-man patrol's mission was pure reconnaissance, and they were to avoid contact with the enemy.
'Hold it!' Dave whispered over the LASH headset. 'Whatcha see?'
'I think that's the village over there at about eleven o'clock.'
Mike looked in the indicated direction. 'Yeah. Let's do a little observing before we move any closer.'
The Odd Couple loosened the headsets and pulled them back to free their ears to listen for any sounds as they carefully scrutinized the rubble of the village and the area around it. A kicked rock, a voice, a cough, belch or fart would be a sure sign somebody was in the vicinity. After a couple of minutes they were positive nobody else was around. The two replaced the LASH headsets, then stood up and cautiously moved forward, holding their CAR-15s ready.
When they reached the ruins, it was obvious the place had been wrecked by rocketing from helicopter gunships. No mortar or artillery damage was apparent. 'This prob'ly happened when the Russkis were fighting here,' Dave opined.
'I hope the women and kids got away,' Mike said. 'But I doubt it.'
'Guerrilla warfare is nasty on civilians, man.'
'The Afghan War happened in the 1970s and 1980s,' Mike said. 'That means this place was blown up between twenty and thirty-five years ago. And since nobody came back to live here again, it means they were all killed.'
'Yeah,' Dave said. 'Shit happens. C'mon! The skipper wants us to watch this place for at least a half hour.'
They left the ruins, and went out to a spot in some scrub brush twenty meters away to settle down for a further period of observation.
.
2310 HOURS LOCAL
CHAD Murchison knelt beside the rocks peering out into the darkness that was molded into a green and white visibility by his night vision device. He was with his mates of Bravo Fire Team, anxiously scanning the countryside to the direct front of their defensive position. Assad and Leibowitz were out there someplace in that wilderness scoping out the location where the defector was to show up.
This was Chad's fourth mission and his first as a Brigand, yet he still could not believe he was a SEAL. He was from a wealthy Boston family replete with old money, an ancestry that could be traced back to the Pilgrims, and money-making generations in banking, stockbroking and other financial professions. Chad, who had grown up as a privileged preppy, was skinny and awkward as a kid. In all his years at the exclusive Starkweather Academy in New Hampshire, he never made an athletic team or even participated in intramural sports between dormitories. Nobody wanted the kid with two left feet on his team. This lack of physical prowess and strength left him with a serious inferiority complex in spite of his brilliant academic record. He dropped out of his freshman year at Yale to enlist in the Navy after his girlfriend dumped him for a jock. An indoctrination lecture about the SEALs during boot camp made him decide to try for masculine glory one more time. He volunteered for the elite unit, ignoring the discouragement given him by his commanding officer. Chad reported to Coronado with a determination he had never felt before. He swore he would kill himself if he didn't make this cut.
Despite his resoluteness, Chad barely made it through the training, as he struggled more with his natural clumsiness than with a lack of zeal or courage. In the end it was his stubborn, bulldog attitude that finally won over the instructors. Here was a guy who wouldn't quit; who would keep fighting and busting his balls until there wasn't a breath left in his body.
Now he was seriously considering disregarding family traditions by not returning home to finish school and begin a banking career in the family firm. At this time in his life, the idea of not being a SEAL or one of Brannigan's Brigands was beneath consideration as far as Petty Officer Third Class Chadwick Murchison was concerned. He scorned everything in his past life, including Penny Brubaker, the girl who dumped him. It was like the guys in the platoon always said, 'Turn the broads upside down and they all look alike.'
A movement to the front caught Chad's attention, and he instantly recognized the figures of Dave Leibowitz and Mike Assad approaching the position. He could tell by their actions they were in an easy mood, and he stood up so the Odd Couple could see him. He nodded to them as they walked up. 'Anything interesting out there?'
Mike shook his head. 'Just a village like they told us in Isolation.'
'The fucking terrain out there looks like the high desert in California,' Dave added. 'Remember that training operation at Trona south of the China Lake Weapons Center? Same thing exactly.'
They went back to the area where Bill Brannigan had set up his command post with Senior Chief Dawkins. Both squatted down in front of the honchos while Dave gave the report. 'Nothing there, sir. I'd hate to have to attack the place though. There's dozens of places in those knocked down buildings for cover and concealment.'
Dawkins took a bite of his PowerBar. 'Did it look like anybody had been there lately?'
'It's hard to pick up tracks on the hard ground,' Dave said. 'But nobody's obviously lived there for a hell of a long time.'
'Deserted,' Mike pronounced.
'Well, I hope that defector shows up sometime tonight,' Brannigan said. 'Okay, guys. Take a break. Send Lieutenant Cruiser, Chief Gunnarson and Puglisi over here.'
'Aye, sir,' Dave said.
A couple of minutes later the three SEALs responded to the firm invitation and joined the skipper and senior chief in the bucolic headquarters. Brannigan shifted his seat on the rocks he had been warming with his buttocks. 'Assad and Leibowitz say there's nothing at the site. I want you three to go over there and see if somebody shows up for a meet. Take off at oh-two-hundred and wait until oh-five-hundred. If nothing happens by then, we'll have to
