Dead Six

“Let’s go!” Tailor said, slapping me on the shoulder. He took off toward the chopper at a jog, and I followed. We both crouched down as we approached the aircraft. The unbelievably quiet rotor was still turning. We climbed into the small cabin. A bench was in the middle, with five seats facing outward on each side. As we sat down and strapped ourselves in, the sliding door closed itself.

“Here,” the copilot said, reaching back toward me. He was wearing a black flight suit and a helmet with night-vision goggles mounted on it. He handed me a bulky little flash drive. “Updated mission information.” I took it from him and handed it to Tailor. Tailor pulled the PDA out of its pouch on his vest and plugged the drive into it. We both studied the screen as the helicopter lifted off, carrying us into the night sky.

I closed my eyes briefly, trying not to think about my last ride in a helicopter.

“Thirty seconds!” the copilot said. “We won’t touch down.” Tailor and I nodded. The stealth helicopter was running dark, flying low over the desert floor toward the village of Umm Bab. We were slowing down now. I unbuckled my seat belt and readied myself.

“We’re at the LZ!” the pilot said. The door on the chopper slid open. Cool, dusty desert air rushed in. “Now!” Without replying, Tailor stood up, made his way to the door, and jumped out into the darkness. Following suit, I stepped up to the door, bent down, and jumped out.

We were a little higher up than I thought. I landed hard, swearing aloud as I flopped onto the rocky desert floor, rolling onto my side. We were so obscured by fine dust that I could hardly see anything. Tailor grabbed me and pulled me upright as the muted sounds of the stealth helicopter faded away. The dust cloud began to settle, leaving us alone in the desert.

“Where are we?” I asked as I quietly chambered a round on my weapon.

“That’s Umm Bab over there.” He pointed toward the amber lights in the distance. “Control, Xbox,” Tailor whispered into his headset. “We’re on the ground.”

“Copy that, Xbox,” Sarah replied. “Proceed to the target.” There was some static interference as she spoke. We were a long way from the fort.

“Roger,” Tailor replied. “Let’s move, Val.” Flipping down his night-vision goggles, he took off toward Umm Bab at a fast walk, submachine gun held at the low-ready. I pulled my own NVGs down over my eyes and turned them on. The dark desert was now bright green. The stars overhead were incredibly bright, and the lights of Umm Bab were almost blinding.

I stood up and followed Tailor. I unfolded the stock on my weapon and turned on the holographic sight, setting it for night-vision mode. Carrying the assault ladder on my back, I moved through the darkness in silence. It took us a long time to reach the outskirts of the village. The moon was set to rise at 0122, and we wanted to be out of the open desert before that happened.

Tailor broke into a run and took cover behind a high wall that surrounded a large house. Once he was in place, he signaled for me to follow while he kept a lookout. I quickly ran to him, crouching down next to him against the wall. “Over there,” he said. “The target house is just down this street. Follow me to the alley. Watch out for dogs.” In Zubara, like many Middle Eastern countries, one could occasionally find packs of feral dogs roaming the streets.

Tailor nodded, stood up, and quietly moved toward the alley. I followed, constantly watching our backs while Tailor led the way. We came to the end of the wall. Tailor leaned around it. He used hand signals to tell me it was clear, then disappeared.

Checking our six one last time, I peeked around the corner. Tailor was a few meters up the alley, crouched behind a large trash bin, waiting for me. I could see no other movement in the alley, and mercifully no lights. The alley itself was narrow, barely wide enough for a truck to drive down. The back walls of compounds lined either side. There was no movement, except for single a black cat trotting along the wall. I signaled for Tailor to advance again. He moved forward, another twenty meters or so, before crouching down in front of a parked pickup truck. The cat took off running and disappeared. Tailor leaned around the vehicle and signaled for me to move forward. In this fashion we leapfrogged toward our target as quietly as possible.

Just after midnight, we arrived behind Adar’s compound, in the exact spot we’d picked out from the aerial photos. I began to unfold the ladder, locking it into its extended position. I leaned it up against the ten-foot wall. Tailor and I froze when we heard someone loudly talking in Arabic on the other side of the wall. Tailor mouthed the word shit. I whispered that I’d go check it out and began to climb the ladder as quietly as I could.

Reaching the top of the wall, I laid eyes on Adar’s compound for the first time. The house was large, square, and made of white stone. A lush garden of palm trees and ferns sat in the middle. There was also a fountain, loudly splashing water into an artificial pond. I was grateful for this as the noise of the water could cover our footsteps.

Below me was the shed, and directly below me, leaning against the wall I’d just climbed, was an Arab man wearing a suit. He was smoking a cigarette and talking to somebody on his cell phone. Shit.

I turned around and looked down at Tailor. I held up one finger, telling him that there was one guy. I pointed down, indicating his location. I held my hand to my head, mimicking a phone, to tell Tailor what he was doing. Tailor nodded and dragged his finger across his throat. I nodded back.

Turning around again, I shuffled forward onto the top of the wall, as slowly as I could, so as not to make noise. The man was oblivious to my presence. His lit cigarette was as bright as a flashlight through my goggles, and it illuminated him clearly.

I brought my weapon around, being very careful not to let it touch the top of the concrete wall. I waited. I didn’t want to interrupt the call, just in case he was talking to somebody who might tip these guys off.

After a moment, he snapped the phone closed. I was ready. Leaning a little bit farther forward, I aimed for the top-rear portion of my target’s head, just as he began to walk back to the house. The suppressed submachine gun clicked and hissed as I fired a two-round burst, and the man collapsed to the ground, blood pouring out of the back of his perforated skull. The strange submachine gun had surprisingly little recoil.

I gave Tailor the thumbs-up and took one last look around the compound. There were bright lights on the front of the house but none on the rear. Seeing no movement, I climbed over the wall and dropped ten feet to the ground below. I landed hard in the dirt between the shed and the wall, and my ankle stung a little. I ignored it, ran forward, and grabbed the dead man’s feet. As Tailor cleared the top of the wall, I dragged my victim into the darkness behind the shed.

Above me, Tailor carefully maintained his balance while he pulled the ladder up over the wall. He handed it down to me. I held it as he quickly climbed down. Once he was on the ground, he covered the courtyard with his weapon as I laid the ladder down in the dirt behind the shed.

“Control, Nightcrawler, we’re inside the compound. Proceeding to the house.”

“Roger that, Nightcrawler,” Sarah replied, her voice still shrouded in static. “Is that you behind the shed?”

“Uh, affirmative,” I said.

“Understood. I see three heat signatures.”

“One of the tangos,” Tailor said. “He’s down.”

“Copy that,” Sarah replied. “We just got the UAV in place. We’ll be providing overwatch.”

“Roger that. Out.” I was happy for the cover of the aerial drone, of course, but I wondered why in the hell they didn’t have it there from the get-go.

“Nice work,” Tailor said, indicating the dead man. “You see the back door?”

“Yes,” I said, peering around the shed. The house was only about fifty feet from our position, but we’d have to bolt across the courtyard and hope we weren’t seen.

“I’ll cover you.”

“Roger,” I said, as Tailor positioned himself to cover the courtyard with his weapon. He gave me the high sign when he was ready. “Moving!” I said, and ran toward the house as quickly and as quietly as I could. I was across the courtyard a moment later. I took a knee, and leaned around the corner of the building, covering the courtyard for Tailor. He then ran from the shed to my position, and crouched down next to me.

Together we moved to the back door of Adar’s safe house. It was locked.