and Vick. They weren’t too thrilled about the rescue itself, but you saved their lives — which is why I figure I can return the favor. If you stick around long enough, they’ll put a target on your head.”
“I’ve been wearing one of those for a lot of years.”
“Look, you must be a smart guy. Go call your boss. Tell him this mission is a dead end. Literally. Get out while you still can.”
“Whoa, I’m scared.”
“Turn around and look up.”
I did. There was a Taliban fighter with an AK-47 standing on the roof, his weapon aimed at my head. And no, he was not hastening to prayer.
“See what I mean? They’re giving you a chance to bail, and they’re doing that as a favor to me. But if you decide to stay and attempt to carry out your mission, then I won’t be able to help you. I want to be very clear about that.”
“How can you do this with a clear conscience?”
“Do what?”
“Betray your country.”
“Are you serious? Come on…” He spun on his sandal and shuffled off.
I glanced back at the Taliban fighter, whose eyes widened above his
TWELVE
I kept quiet during the ride back to the base, and as I got out of the car near the main gate, Bronco started to say something, but I cut him off. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do.”
“Then do the right thing. This ain’t worth it. And if you think you can beat them with all your fancy gadgets and gizmos, think again, right?”
“Are you helping Zahed?”
“Me?”
“I’m asking you a direct question. Yes? Or no?”
“No.”
“Why do I find that hard to believe?”
“Listen to me, Joe. Don’t let your ego get in the way here. They gave you a mission, but they don’t understand. They didn’t give you orders to upset the balance here.”
“Balance?”
“Yeah. You might think this doesn’t work, but to these people, it ain’t half bad.”
I smirked, slammed the door, and walked on toward the gate. The mine-sweeping team was just coming in as well, and I asked a lieutenant at the Hummer’s wheel how they’d made out.
The skinny redhead wiped a bead of sweat from his brow and answered, “Looked clear to us.”
“Hey, can you do me a favor and sweep the original zone?”
“You mean where we were supposed to drill?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry, sir, but I haven’t received orders or authorization to do that.”
“Yeah, but it wouldn’t take long, right? Thirty minutes? I mean you’re all loaded up already.”
He grinned slyly. “You think those bastards are hiding something out there, don’t you?”
“I know they are.”
“I’m surprised Captain Harruck didn’t ask us to sweep it.”
“That hottie Anderson is keeping him real busy now,” I said.
“Oh, yeah, she’s hot.”
“Australian accent. What an ass on her, too.”
I was talking his talk. He wriggled his brows. “Tell you what, we’ll give it a quick look. I’m sure the CO would make us check it out eventually.” He threw his truck in reverse, backed out, and started away from the gate.
I watched them leave, then hurried back to our billet, where inside, the guys were doing the usual: reading, playing computer games on their iPods, cleaning weapons, and/or creating battle profiles for our Cross-Coms, something Nolan truly enjoyed. We always killed more time than enemy insurgents. So it was in the Army. Hurry up and wait.
Ramirez and Warris were seated at the small conference table near the door, and Ramirez gave me a sour look as I entered. “What’s up?”
“Sir, just had a nice, long talk with Captain Warris. Seems he’s in charge now.”
“Say again?”
“That’s not exactly true,” said Warris.
I quickly said, “Gordon told me you’re our new—”
“Liaison officer?” Warris finished. “Yeah, well, that was the initial thought. They say they won’t relieve you of command, Mitchell, but I’ve been told that anything and everything you do must be screened through me first, and at that point I’ll bring it up with Harruck. I’m sorry. I know how this is. But they were emphatic.”
“Outside,” I snapped.
“Excuse me?”
“I said,
“Whoa. You’d better check the registry.”
“Not now,
I opened the door and waited for the punk I had trained, the punk who thought he was replacing me, to head outside, where we could talk away from my boys.
So I’d just learned that my father was in a coma, that my chances of capturing my target were next to nil, and that some kid with barely two combat tours under his belt was going to “oversee” my operation. I guess I’m trying to rationalize or justify what I did next.
Sure, my hand itched with the desire to reach for my pistol and put it to Warris’s head — just to teach the cocky bastard a lesson. And my other hand shook with the desire to strangle him until he was blue and his eyes rolled back in his head.
Wasn’t it just yesterday that I was standing there with Warris as his evaluator during the training exercise we’d just completed?
I’d been playing the role of a tribal chief and he’d misjudged my character and how I might behave in the heat of battle. Sure, I threw him a few surprises, but he should have been ready for them, and he was not.
Indeed, he’d screwed up big-time and I’d chewed him out, but he’d been humble and had never questioned my authority. I hadn’t known his true feelings about that experience and the aftermath… until now.
“Mitchell, don’t think you can throw your weight around like you did back at the school. Those days are over,” he began. “You were the wise old man back there, but over here, it’s a whole different ball of wax. Old school doesn’t work anymore. We might be Ghosts, but we still have to learn, adapt, and overcome.”
I smiled. “So you’re an asshole, too?”
His eyes widened. “I could write you up for that.”
My grin darkened. “Listen, kid, if you think I’m going to ask your permission for anything I do here—”
The explosion came from the other side of the wall, and I knew in the next breath who was involved: the mine-sweeping team. Had they found a mine? Were they under attack?
My imagination raced through fragmented images of blood-filled sand fountaining into the air and human appendages tumbling end over end…
I pointed a finger at Warris, about to say something, then just sprinted away toward the rear wall, where a ladder would take me up to the machine gun nest. From there I’d have a clear view of the field.
The report of automatic weapons echoed the first boom immediately, and it sounded like an all-out gun battle
