Raven Strike

“What do you think?” Danny asked Jordan.

“I don’t know. Booby-trapping the truck would be very much like him. Finding the transponder? Definitely. But anything’s possible. These people aren’t stupid; they’ve lived by their wits out here for a long time.”

“We brought two guys back,” Danny told Nuri. “Maybe you can get something out of them.”

“Sure,” said Nuri.

Melissa followed them out of the building.

“Unless your Arabic’s a lot better than mine,” Nuri told her as they neared the tent, “I think you ought to stay outside. The less people who see you, the better.”

She gave him a scowl but didn’t argue.

* * *

Nuri adjusted the MY-PID ear set and followed Danny inside the tent. A teenager lay on the floor, arms and legs bound by zip ties. The tent was illuminated by a 150-watt bulb in a work lamp hanging from the peak.

Nuri knelt next to the prisoner. The kid was so still that even though his eyes were open, Nuri thought he was sleeping.

“As-Salamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuhu,” Nuri said in Arabic. May the One True God’s Peace and Blessing Be Upon You.

The young man’s eyes opened a little wider, but he said nothing.

“Why did you try to kill my friends?” asked Nuri. When he didn’t get a response, he switched to Nubian, the dominant tribal language of the North, and repeated the question.

Nuri’s Nubian wasn’t nearly as fluent as his Arabic, and the differences in the dialects added considerable difficulty. He would at least have no trouble translating: MY-PID could handle it instantaneously. Indeed, as soon as the Voice heard him use the language, it would make suggestions, allowing him to refine his speech as he went along.

The computer’s help proved unnecessary.

“You think I don’t know English?” said the prisoner.

“I didn’t want to insult you by using it,” said Nuri.

The kid made a face.

“How old are you?” asked Danny.

“What kind of question is that for a warrior of God?” snapped the boy.

“You’re not fighting for God. You’re trying to get Dr. Thorika into power,” answered Nuri, referring to the opposition figure supported by the Brotherhood.

“Phhhh, Thorika.” The prisoner tried to spit, but his mouth was so dry he couldn’t even force spittle to his lips. “We fight for the rule of Islam.”

“You’re with the Brothers?” said Nuri, who of course had suspected as much, based on what he knew of Li Han. “Have they stopped backing Thorika?”

The prisoner frowned again, perhaps realizing he had given Nuri more information than he should have.

“I didn’t know the Brotherhood had people this far north,” said Nuri in a reasonable tone. “Why have you come into the territory of your enemies?”

“All Sudan is our territory. We have friends everywhere.”

The kid switched to Arabic as he repeated several slogans popular with the Brothers. Nuri let him talk for a while before finally cutting him off.

“What about the Chinese scientist? Why is he in charge of you?”

“He is not in charge of us.”

The interview continued in that vein for several more minutes. Nuri concluded that the prisoner was older than he looked, but even so probably didn’t have much information that would be immediately useful.

The second prisoner stuck to Arabic, but was more talkative, volunteering that “the Asian” was in the city, though he didn’t know where. He said he was fifteen, and Nuri believed it; he had clearly not been trusted with much information, and didn’t seem to know that much about the UAV.

“They’re the usual teenage riffraff the Brotherhood recruits,” said Melissa derisively outside the tent. “They’re ignorant. They don’t know anything.”

“The first one spoke English pretty well,” said Nuri.

“So? It’s the official language. One of them.”

“The usual slugs don’t speak it as well as he does,” said Nuri.

“Li Han doesn’t speak Arabic, or any of the local languages,” said Melissa. “They needed someone who could communicate with him.”

“If Li Han is so good, why is he working for them?” asked Danny. “Why isn’t he working for Iran or Syria?”

“He has worked for them,” said Melissa. “He’s here because al Qaeda gave the Brotherhood money to hire him. He’s being paid ridiculously well to help them set up communications networks, arrange their computers. Forge networks.”

“Does he work for them, or the Brotherhood?”

“What difference does it make?”

“It makes a difference,” said Nuri.

“The Brotherhood. They contacted him through an intermediary. I’d guess he knows where the money comes from.”

“And where do they get it?” said Nuri. His tone made it clear he was speaking rhetorically. “The big oil states, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the rest. It’s blood money — we’ll pay you off if you don’t try and overthrow us, or preach too hard in our mosques, or do something else that will upset our business arrangements. Whatever it is Li Han is doing out here, he’s getting a ton of money for it. More than you and I will ever make in a hundred lifetimes.”

“That’s true,” said Melissa. “He’s helping them organize. That’s why it’s important to take him out now.”

“Getting the UAV back is our priority,” said Danny.

“Absolutely,” she said.

“I want access to the file,” said Nuri.

“What’s our next move?” Melissa asked Danny.

“It’s not ‘our’ next move,” said Nuri. “I’m going back to see what’s going on. We’ll take it from there.”

“I’m going in with you.”

“No again,” said Nuri.

“Colonel, this is my mission,” said Melissa. “Raven is in Duka somewhere. I have to find it.”

“This is our mission,” said Danny. “All of ours.”

Nuri tried to suppress his anger. He could tell what Danny was thinking: he saw this as a squabble between two Agency officers, a turf battle. But Nuri knew there was a lot more going on here than they’d been told — he doubted the assassination operation had been authorized, and there was no telling what else was up. Melissa was exactly the sort of gung-ho idiot higher-ups threw into a situation where the Agency didn’t belong.

“I’m going to the clinic with the drugs,” he said. “After that I’ll check with the other group. I’m not convinced that Li Han is still in town, but if he is, I’ll hear about it.”

“I could go to the clinic,” said Melissa. “I’m trained as a nurse. I’ll gather information in the city.”

“I don’t think that’s necessary,” said Danny. “Your arm’s in a sling.”

“I don’t need it.” She pulled it out. Pain showed on her face, but she let it dangle. “Raven is mine. It’s my job to find it.”

“We can get the information ourselves.”

“You haven’t done very well at it to this point.”

Danny scowled.

“I’m going,” said Melissa. “I’d be there now if I hadn’t taken a spill.”

Why not let her? thought Nuri. If she was going to be a jackass, why not let her park herself inside the clinic? She’d be out of the way there.

Sure. And then they’d capture her, torture her, and she’d tell them everything she knew about Raven and whatever else she was involved in.