farthest out the bastards can go to the north, and them Pashtuns laid it in good to protect that flank. I'd look for both heavy weapons and infantry to be there.'
'I see it plainly,' Komard said. 'I expect they might try to camouflage it better once they move into the area.'
'More'n likely,' Sikes agreed. 'You can see it well enough now, since the brush around it is dead and dried out.'
Komard took his compass and shot an azimuth on the location. After entering the information in his notebook he said, 'I'm ready for the next one.'
The two men spent the next half hour meticulously noting all the fighting positions the Pashtuns had established in the past.
ARCHIBALD Sikes had once been an excellent noncommissioned officer in the British Army's crack Royal Regiment of Dragoons. This armored infantry unit had a long and colorful history in the colonial days of Queen Victoria's domains. The sun did not set on the British Empire, nor did it set on the battlefields on which the Dragoons had fought and died in the greatest traditions of Great Britain.
Sergeant Sikes had been an ambitious soldier and decided he would like to earn a commission to continue his career as an officer. He was approved by both his platoon leader and company commander to go before the board for attending officer training. He passed the examinations and interviews with flying colors, but when he requested his commission be made in his home regiment, he was turned down. The major in charge of the examining board told Sikes he was not socially acceptable for the officers' mess of the Royal Dragoons.
Sikes had no idea of the rigid class system of the regiment's elite. In reality, they were all from wealthy families with the right connections and a standard of living far above that of the typical British unit. To keep up appearances, the officers had to use more than their army pay. They had high dues and subscriptions in their mess, all uniforms were tailor-made, they kept privately owned polo ponies in the regimental stables, and they enjoyed a lifestyle of the truly rich and famous. Television and movie stars visited their mess along with powerful politicians and industrialists. It was hardly the place for a young Brit whose father worked in a building materials supply warehouse as a stockman.
This snobbery turned Sikes off. When informed of the when and why of the refusal of the regiment to accept him as one of its officers, he was infuriated. It didn't matter that he could have been commissioned in any other regiment--with the exception of the Brigade of Guards--Sikes wanted the Royal Regiment of Dragoons. He had especially picked it out to serve in when he joined up. The same evening of the turndown, he went to town, got drunk, and ended up being arrested for brawling. He was reduced from sergeant to corporal. More misconduct resulted in his being busted down to the rank of private.
When his unit went to Iraq, his conduct did not improve. His regimental sergeant major informed him that when they returned to Britain, he would be kicked out of the Army with a bad-conduct discharge. An Iraqi civilian employee at the camp had taken special notice of Sikes and became friendly with him. This was Khalil Farouk, an undercover agent for a terrorist group that was aligned with Iran. He knew that Sikes was really an excellent soldier, just the sort of man the terrorists needed to whip their mujahideen into shape. The bottom line was that, under Farouk's influence, Sikes deserted, converted to Islam, and joined the Iranian-sponsored Jihad Abadi, which was actually an army-in-the building in a scheme for Iran to control the Middle East.
Sikes, because of his background, was given command of an armored car company at the Chehaar Garrison in the salt swamps on the Iran-Afghanistan border. They used a secret road through the bogs to enter Afghanistan and conduct combat operations. Sikes had discovered an UNREO unit working with the Pashtun natives in the area and ordered them out. When he returned the next day to see if they had left, he was ambushed by an American unit of DPVs. It turned out the Yanks had no AP rounds and could not damage his armored cars. But because of the possibility of CAS aircraft coming onto the scene, Sikes ordered his men back across the border.
The next confrontation with the Americans in Afghanistan occurred ten days later. This time they had AP capabilities, and used the nimble DPVs to advantage in quick strikes and envelopments. Sikes lost thirteen of his twenty vehicles and retreated across the international border. When he complained to the Iranians about the lack of reserves along with no artillery or air support, they disbanded his armored cars. He and his men were transferred as infantrymen to Pashtun allies in the Gharawdara Highlands.
Things went to hell again when the Americans wiped out the Pashtuns' opium poppy smuggling operation. The Pashtun leader surrendered, and Sikes took his command back into Iran, where they ended up in the present operation to strike into Afghanistan and grab a big hunk of territory to lure the Pashtuns back to their cause.
Sikes had now worked his way up to the rank of major in the Iranian Army, and he stood ready with his Iranian comrades and his own Arab followers to do battle with whoever would be moving into the old Pashtun stronghold across the valley. This time Sikes and his men were well equipped with the latest night vision capabilities of goggles and binoculars, LASH radio sets, and heavy fire support. Reinforcements and resupply were also available to sustain this latest operation.
Sikes Pasha smiled to himself, his confidence buoyed by the strong support from both the Iranian government and Army. The tide had at last turned.
CHAPTER 2
SEAL HANGAR
SHELOR FIELD
8 JUNE 0930 HOURS
THE folding chairs had been arranged into a semicircle, with two to the direct front for Commander Tom Carey and Lieutenant Commander Ernest Berringer. Dr. Carl Joplin would not be present at the briefback for security reasons. The Undersecretary of State was a trusted individual with a top-secret and cryptography security clearance, but his exclusion was because of that traditional requirement of not having a 'need to know.'
When the two staff officers walked into the area, Carey let it be known it was unnecessary to call the detachment to attention when he loudly proclaimed, 'Carry on!' He and Berringer went to the chairs obviously set out for them and settled down. They had left their briefcases behind and did not produce as much as a notebook in which to jot down the highlights of the briefback.
Brannigan took the obvious hint to hurry things along. He spoke from the center front chairs, where he sat with Lieutenant JG Jim Cruiser and Ensign Orlando Taylor. 'Before we start the briefback, Ensign Taylor has an announcement to make. It's a bit of information that every member of this detachment will take to heart. Lieutenant Cruiser and I only learned the facts last night.'
Taylor stood and turned to face the SEALs. 'I told the Skipper and Lieutenant Cruiser last night about a cousin of mine who had served with the SEALs. He was KIA on an operation, but our family was never given the full details of the incident. We did not know his whereabouts when he sacrificed his life for his country, nor were we aware of the exact circumstances. Naturally my cousin had told the whole family about the possibility of such a thing happening because of secret missions. When I mentioned his name, the Skipper told me he was a Brigand, and was killed in action on your deployment to South America.' Taylor paused to get hold of his emotions. 'I was very close to him and I am honored beyond belief that circumstances have permitted me to take his place in this detachment. His name was Lamar Taylor, and he's left me some pretty big shoes to fill.'
Connie Concord nodded to the ensign. 'I was his fire team leader, sir. Lamar was a hell of a fine man. A real SEAL.'
'Alright!' Brannigan barked. 'Let's get this briefback rolling along. Lieutenant Cruiser!'
'Aye, sir!' Cruiser stood to address Carey and Berringer. 'My portion of the briefback will cover the movement from Shelor to the OA. I won't be using any maps or aerial photos, since we all know the exact location of the place. So! I'll start with an announcement of my own. Two choppers are going to be used, and I'll discuss them one at a time. We'll be utilizing an Air Force Pave Low MH-fifty-three J chopper for personnel, equipment, weapons, and ammo. It's more than adequate to handle all our needs for the mission. We have set up a new departure time of zero-six-hundred hours. That will be for the first chopper. The Pave Low will follow at zero-seven-hundred hours.'
'Where does this additional first chopper come in?' Carey asked.
'We want to drop in a recon team to scope out the area prior to landing and deplaning. All available aerial photos indicate the site is secure, but we want to make sure. I've made arrangements through the Army transportation company to have the use of an Afghanistan Army Huey helicopter for this parachute infiltration.'
This piqued Lieutenant Commander Berringer's interest. 'Why did you go to the Afghans? We could easily
