Tex, page 18
She nodded. “The local populations are also on the rampage. They hate the ELN, FARC, and garimpeiros for stripping the land and word is there’s genocide going on. The main indigenous people in the area where you’ll be are the Sanema, nomadic, but they also grow some crops, essentially bananas and manioc. They may fire first and ask questions later,” Hannah said. “The other problems, because you don’t have enough to deal with, is the spotty communications and the thick canopy, which will screw with our overwatch.” She set her hands on the table and gave them all stares. “Be as quick as you can, and good luck down there.”
The woman came over to her. “Hi, Lieutenant Wilson, we’ll need a call sign for you.”
“Oh, you can use my pilot one. It’s Kokomo or Koko.”
Hannah nodded. “How do you spell that?” Nora noticed how Tex smiled. He got it.
“From the Beach Boys,” Easy, said and when Hannah looked at him in a puzzled way, he smiled and sang some of the song. “You know, because her last name is Wilson.”
Hannah’s face cleared. “Right. That makes sense. And you, Petty Officer Ryan?”
“The crew and pilots sometimes call me Hammer because I drop it when things aren’t done correctly.”
“Perfect,” Hannah said. “Stay safe.”
Thirty thousand feet in the sky, the unpadded walls magnified the noise. With the orange netting their only seating, the guys were onto a different problem. Nora’s nerves were a little more intense after the briefing. Studying the controls and process of flying the jet was easy. She picked up that kind of stuff quickly. What worried her was all the moving pieces on the ground and the unpredictability of the “players.” Nora got a good dose of admiration for Tex, who had to navigate all that when they touched down.
“What a goatscrew,” Easy said. “The first time we went down there, we got compromised by a fluke. But this time, it will be payback time.”
“Damn straight,” Dagger said, fist bumping him.
Shark said, “You doing okay, Petty Officer?”
Cameron looked at him. “I’m channeling Rapunzel right now.”
“Oh, how’s that?”
“Venture outside your comfort zone. The rewards are worth it.”
Shark nodded. “I like that. How about ‘do or don’t do. There is no fucking try.’ Yoda.”
She laughed softly as aware as Nora was that he was trying to take her mind off the jump, and inserting humor released tension. “I think you might have added a word Yoda didn’t say.”
“Hmm. What could that be?” Shark said, his eyes gleaming.
“There’s no place like home. Dorothy,” Twister said with a grin. Brawler shoved him right off his seat.
“It’s not our abilities that show what we truly are…it’s our choices. Dumbledore,” Bondo said.
“Deep shit,” Flash said. “When love happens, it knows no boundaries and requires few words. Wall-E.”
Flash smiled and everyone groaned, but Nora felt the power of those words in her chest. She glanced over at Tex. He stared back at her. She wished she could touch him, but that wasn’t possible. This was about what they had to do, not about them right now.
“Your job doesn’t have to define you. Wreck-it Ralph,” Tex said.
Leave it to him to sum it up so perfectly.
“Sharp, pointy things should always be avoided. Aurora,” Dagger said with another round of laughter.
“You would come up with that,” Shark said, bumping him with his shoulder. Dagger shrugged.
“A night out usually goes downhill after midnight. Cinderella,” Easy said with a smirk.
“You would know, Easy.” Dagger snickered.
It was her turn to contribute. “The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all. Mulan.”
“She was a badass,” Shark said.
“You can accomplish amazing things by thinking positively, but if a boy shows up at your window in the middle of the night, he’s probably going to get you into trouble. Wendy.” Brawler said.
“Does Beast have anything to say?” Nora asked with a smile.
“Of course, he does. Don’t you, buddy,” Brawler said as he rubbed the dog’s head. “True friends accept you, farts and all. Simba.”
The laughter helped to loosen up her joints. She was floored that Brawler, who was jumping from this aircraft with Beast, was also going to be carrying another load with his rucksack. Beast even had his own oxygen mask and eye protectors called doggles. He was so damn cute with them on. That was the ultimate trust there for Beast. But she was pretty sure they did everything together and the MWD knew Brawler was there for him.
She’d pretty much had her face stuck in the jet manual, but there wasn’t anything there that would cause her any trouble. Nora and Cameron had been read in before they’d taken off. They were going to Venezuela and Nora was responsible for flying a prototype jet out of the jungle once Cameron discovered the reason it was grounded and fixed it. It all sounded iffy to her, but who was she to argue. Lieutenant Commander Reed had agreed to do this for his country, and he’d paid the ultimate price. She could do no less.
Tex tapped her and she looked up. He tugged at her gear, double-checking, and duplicating what the others were doing. Nerves fluttered in her gut, but it was because she hadn’t done this in such a long time. Nora looked over at Cameron and she gave Nora a thumbs up, looking as cool as a cucumber.
A buzzer screeched inside the aircraft, the red light blinking brightly. The loadmaster held up five fingers, which meant they were five minutes from the jump coordinates. Jumpers lined up and she tightened her chin strap as a crewman opened the hatch. The icy wind flowed in with gale-force strength, making her step back a bit and shiver at how cold it was. Brawler secured Beast to his chest and fitted his oxygen mask to the dog’s muzzle, then was first to the hatch with Cameron sandwiched between Shark and Dagger. Nora was behind Twister with Tex bringing up the rear. It gave her comfort to have him there as if he was watching out for her.
The light stopped blinking red and turned a steady shade of green. She heard a voice in her helmet. “Go, go, go.”
It was a mass exodus as man after man fell into the inky black. When she reached the hatch, she had no more time to think, she was free-falling, her flight suit flapping like crazy in the heavy wind.
She couldn’t see the ground, but that didn’t matter. Used to reading instruments to get her bearing, she watched her altimeter rip off feet-per-second too fast to see. Five miles above the earth was a long way to fall.
“Get ready to deploy,” Tex said in her ear, and she grabbed her rip cord and waited for his order. “Now.” She pulled, the chute yanking her back up and filling. She let out a long breath, controlling the lead lines and guiding herself past the thick stand of trees. The clearing below her was the landing zone right smack in the middle of a mass of green. Night vision gave her an advantage.
She counted nine chutes and breathed a sigh of relief. Brawler was done first then silhouettes dropped out of the sky like dominoes. Nora’s boots hit the ground and she tucked, rolled, then on her knees, she drew the chute in fast and tight, then raced to Brawler. He was several feet from the landing area, already out of his jumpsuit and burying his gear. She released her harness, then removed the oxygen and her helmet. Brawler cracked a Chem-Lite as Nora peeled off the jumpsuit, then replaced it with her load-bearing vest and weapons.
Intel said the plane was to the north, buried deep in the jungle. It would be a straight flight from its hiding place to the USS Annenberg, which floated out to sea about ten miles from shore.
The first leg of their journey was completed, and Nora could only be thankful she’d gotten to the ground in one piece along with the whole team. So far so good.
But she suspected that was the easy part.
14
“TOC. This is Tex. We’re passing Corvette. I say again. We’re passing Corvette.” Currently the ten of them were hunkered down just at the edge of the clearing where they’d landed. The briefing showed how crowded the jungle could be, but it was his intention to be much more cautious this time through.
“Brawler, take point.” He stopped Shark and Dagger by grabbing their vests. Letting everyone else pass. “Shark, you watch Ryan like a hawk. Do not let her out of your sight. Same for Nora, Dagger.” He met both their gazes. “If we get into a firefight, I want them eating dirt and keep eating dirt until we’ve neutralized the threat. Is that clear?”
“Crystal,” Dagger said. Shark nodded with that look in his eyes, one that would have chilled a lesser man. “Move out.”
Dagger didn’t move for a moment. “I’ll protect her with my life, LT.”
There wasn't another group of men he would want to do this mission with. He trusted each of them with his life, and he could do no less for Nora. He was determined that they would all make it back home with the plane, pilot and the RIO. With everything that belonged to them.
Tex didn’t mind the jungle. It was like anything else. All you had to do was understand it, and for a man who had grown up landlocked and in wide open spaces, he found the jungle secretive, prehistoric, and more dangerous than it looked.
It didn’t surprise him one bit that indigenous people were being exploited. He suspected that count included women and children. Fuckers. It seemed to be the way of the world and especially here where the government had failed their people. Greed ruled the world.
Insects hummed beneath the brim of his floppy hat. He adjusted the shoulder strap of his assault rifle, less for comfort and more from habit.
They had lost the moonlight as soon as they moved under the thick canopy, the air so heavy it soaked his shirt, producing rivulets of sweat down his spine. His boots sunk into decaying underbrush, the musty odor rising like fog. In front of them, the forest was like a blanket of rolling dense green. They were lucky to have the night vision goggles.
Brawler used his considerable size to forge a path, Beast, as usual, paced him, his eyes forward, his ears alert. Ignoring the sounds around him, the dog was so well-trained to only hunt humans, the small creatures and drops of nuts from the trees didn’t faze him. He was such an exceptional K9.
The coordinates for the plane were about five clicks from where they were inserted. JSOC didn’t want any activity around the plane to make anyone suspicious or curious.
They walked for another two clicks, the jungle slowing them down. Suddenly, Brawler held up his fist and everyone melted into the jungle, crouching low. Brawler came down the middle of the path at a crouching run.
“There’s a major goatfuck ahead, LT.”
“Details.”
“Looks like a small Sanema village with a lot of armed men surrounding it.” I’d say they plan on carrying out some of that genocide the commander mentioned.”
“Combatants?”
“Paramilitary. Thermal shows twelve of them. The miners in the area are neutralizing a threat to their operation.”
A radio crackled in the night and Tex heard a man respond quickly in Spanish. Yes, I am in place. We can go in fifteen.
Tex keyed his radio. “TOC.”
“Go for TOC.”
“We have a situation.” Tex explained the obstacle, well aware that these miners impeded the team’s path to their mission objective, but innocent people were going to die if they didn’t intercede. Rules of Engagement were clear. He had the legal obligation to aid or protect noncombatants, though technically he wasn’t at war with the people here and wasn’t authorized by the Venezuelan government to be here. As trespassing special forces, they had been ordered to remain invisible. The whole thing was a gray area.
“Can you pass through without engaging?”
Tex looked at Brawler.
“Iffy TOC. Too far to go around,” Brawler said into his mike.
“Your call, Gold 1. If you do engage, minimize civilian casualties and footprint.”
“Bondo?”
“I don’t see an alternative, LT. These miners are in our way. They are planning on attacking this peaceful village with intent to murder. I say we engage, neutralize the threat and move on.”
“I’m not okay with leaving these people to die either, LT,” Flash said.
Brawler sighed. “I’m with the bleeding hearts, sir. I heard babies crying. It’s this kind of shit that wakes me up in the night in a sweat.”
It was unanimous. Nothing worse than having the blood of people he could have saved on his hands. Going around wasn’t an option.
He motioned to Ryan and Nora. They came to him. “You will stay here, flat on your bellies, and will not move until one of us comes back for you. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir,” Ryan said.
Nora nodded, the soft look in her eyes bolstering him. He would have argued with any order that had him ignoring these people and leaving them to die when they could prevent it.
“Easy, overwatch,” Tex said, looking at the clearing, noting the crude grass huts and smoke rising from inside. These people lived very basic lives on the fringes of civilization. The modern world threatened their culture, which had thrived for hundreds of years. “The rest of you spread out and take them down without gunfire if possible. Protect the villagers.”
His guys moved left and right to take out the still forms waiting for the go-ahead. He snuck up on his target, looking around to get the placement of his guys. “Execute,” he said.
The man never saw him coming as Tex’s knife slashed in the dark without even a telltale glint on the blade. He surveyed the area, noting that seven bodies littered the ground. Four more miners were oblivious as his guys closed in as silent as death.
Tex crouched holding one of the radios. “Move in.” The order came in over the radio.
Tex responded in Spanish. “Order received.”
Now that the threat was over, he walked back to Ryan and Nora. Both women had obeyed his order to the letter. They were still face down on the ground, their faces just barely discernible.
“Come with me,” he said, and they rose. He saw that the moment it was over, Shark and Dagger were back for the women, each taking on the original order Tex had given them.
Their intent was to pass the village completely and leave them in peace. He would radio pretending to be the miners that they were finished and clean up was in order, but then Tex realized the miners would just come back. These people had only dodged one bullet. Their lives were still in danger.
He started for the village and heard a male voice, speaking Spanish. “Who is out there? Show yourself.”
“Brawler and Flash, perimeter. Let me know if we get company.”
“Copy that,” Brawler said and he, Beast, and Flash disappeared into the jungle with barely a rustle to show their movement.
Tex walked toward the faint light and discovered several men armed with bows and arrows and blowpipes. “We're the US military and we’re passing through. You were targeted by the miners in the area. I’d suggest you consult your local authorities for protection.”
The man spit and laughed softly. “They will be no help.” He eyed them and then said in broken English, “You are here about metal bird in jungle. Too late. Gone.”
Tex pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, absorbing that information. Well, hell, if everything went to plan, he wouldn’t be able to use his reasoning ability on the fly.
“Do you know where they took the plane?”
The man nodded. “I am chief. I tell you about plane. Save villagers, wife, and child first.”
“Sounds like we’ve got a quid pro quo, here, LT.” Dagger spoke to them in rapid Spanish and the man responded. “He says the miners were here two days ago and took his family members and several young men to work the mines. They have tried to get them back and have been attacking the miners. This was their retaliation to get these guys off their backs. He had a man track the plane to where they took it. He will tell us as soon as we return their family members.”
“Did the miners take the plane?”
The chief shook his head.
Great, that left the drug dealers, armed forces of Venezuela, the ELN, or FARC and worse case scenario, Hezbollah. Any of the factions would find the terrorist group quite interested in an American fighter jet and a couple of hostages. They would pay a hefty sum. Tex had no time to be traipsing all over the jungle to discover where they had stashed the plane.
He keyed his mike and filled TOC in. Dade agreed with Tex that they would go after the villagers to get the destination of the plane from the chief.
He moved a few steps away from the villagers with Bondo. “What’s the plan, LT?”
He looked over at Nora and Ryan. Some of the villager women had small children and babies, and Nora and Ryan were talking to them as they crowded around. Nora’s hair shone in the light from the torches. He wasn’t too keen on this hiccup. But the fact was the plane had been discovered and moved. Intel was sparse as the jungle cover was so thick satellites were useless. He couldn’t leave the plane in enemy hands.
“We’re going to save the chief’s people. We have no choice. We’ll leave Dagger here with Lieutenant Wilson and Petty Officer Ryan.”
“Copy that,” Bondo said, following his line of sight with a knowing look.
Tex had to wonder if what Nora said about the Petty Officer and Bondo was true. He’d known the man for years, supported him through the tragic deaths of his wife and daughter. He’d seen Bondo shut down, bury himself in his work. But as he looked at Nora again, he realized the complications of just being in the Navy alone, then being a SEAL, and all the travel, separation, and danger a significant other would have to endure.
It was any wonder any of them ever got married, had kids, and retired.
It took a strong bond, a strong woman. Love. It took love.
He blinked a couple of times. “Rest for fifteen and rehydrate,” Tex said gruffly to Bondo, absently, feeling suspended, as if the world was shifting on its axis and spinning faster. He stared at Nora as she smiled and held a laughing baby. In her, he saw his future, in her he saw the man he was meant to be, a husband, a father, in her he saw…felt…love.
The woman came over to her. “Hi, Lieutenant Wilson, we’ll need a call sign for you.”
“Oh, you can use my pilot one. It’s Kokomo or Koko.”
Hannah nodded. “How do you spell that?” Nora noticed how Tex smiled. He got it.
“From the Beach Boys,” Easy, said and when Hannah looked at him in a puzzled way, he smiled and sang some of the song. “You know, because her last name is Wilson.”
Hannah’s face cleared. “Right. That makes sense. And you, Petty Officer Ryan?”
“The crew and pilots sometimes call me Hammer because I drop it when things aren’t done correctly.”
“Perfect,” Hannah said. “Stay safe.”
Thirty thousand feet in the sky, the unpadded walls magnified the noise. With the orange netting their only seating, the guys were onto a different problem. Nora’s nerves were a little more intense after the briefing. Studying the controls and process of flying the jet was easy. She picked up that kind of stuff quickly. What worried her was all the moving pieces on the ground and the unpredictability of the “players.” Nora got a good dose of admiration for Tex, who had to navigate all that when they touched down.
“What a goatscrew,” Easy said. “The first time we went down there, we got compromised by a fluke. But this time, it will be payback time.”
“Damn straight,” Dagger said, fist bumping him.
Shark said, “You doing okay, Petty Officer?”
Cameron looked at him. “I’m channeling Rapunzel right now.”
“Oh, how’s that?”
“Venture outside your comfort zone. The rewards are worth it.”
Shark nodded. “I like that. How about ‘do or don’t do. There is no fucking try.’ Yoda.”
She laughed softly as aware as Nora was that he was trying to take her mind off the jump, and inserting humor released tension. “I think you might have added a word Yoda didn’t say.”
“Hmm. What could that be?” Shark said, his eyes gleaming.
“There’s no place like home. Dorothy,” Twister said with a grin. Brawler shoved him right off his seat.
“It’s not our abilities that show what we truly are…it’s our choices. Dumbledore,” Bondo said.
“Deep shit,” Flash said. “When love happens, it knows no boundaries and requires few words. Wall-E.”
Flash smiled and everyone groaned, but Nora felt the power of those words in her chest. She glanced over at Tex. He stared back at her. She wished she could touch him, but that wasn’t possible. This was about what they had to do, not about them right now.
“Your job doesn’t have to define you. Wreck-it Ralph,” Tex said.
Leave it to him to sum it up so perfectly.
“Sharp, pointy things should always be avoided. Aurora,” Dagger said with another round of laughter.
“You would come up with that,” Shark said, bumping him with his shoulder. Dagger shrugged.
“A night out usually goes downhill after midnight. Cinderella,” Easy said with a smirk.
“You would know, Easy.” Dagger snickered.
It was her turn to contribute. “The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all. Mulan.”
“She was a badass,” Shark said.
“You can accomplish amazing things by thinking positively, but if a boy shows up at your window in the middle of the night, he’s probably going to get you into trouble. Wendy.” Brawler said.
“Does Beast have anything to say?” Nora asked with a smile.
“Of course, he does. Don’t you, buddy,” Brawler said as he rubbed the dog’s head. “True friends accept you, farts and all. Simba.”
The laughter helped to loosen up her joints. She was floored that Brawler, who was jumping from this aircraft with Beast, was also going to be carrying another load with his rucksack. Beast even had his own oxygen mask and eye protectors called doggles. He was so damn cute with them on. That was the ultimate trust there for Beast. But she was pretty sure they did everything together and the MWD knew Brawler was there for him.
She’d pretty much had her face stuck in the jet manual, but there wasn’t anything there that would cause her any trouble. Nora and Cameron had been read in before they’d taken off. They were going to Venezuela and Nora was responsible for flying a prototype jet out of the jungle once Cameron discovered the reason it was grounded and fixed it. It all sounded iffy to her, but who was she to argue. Lieutenant Commander Reed had agreed to do this for his country, and he’d paid the ultimate price. She could do no less.
Tex tapped her and she looked up. He tugged at her gear, double-checking, and duplicating what the others were doing. Nerves fluttered in her gut, but it was because she hadn’t done this in such a long time. Nora looked over at Cameron and she gave Nora a thumbs up, looking as cool as a cucumber.
A buzzer screeched inside the aircraft, the red light blinking brightly. The loadmaster held up five fingers, which meant they were five minutes from the jump coordinates. Jumpers lined up and she tightened her chin strap as a crewman opened the hatch. The icy wind flowed in with gale-force strength, making her step back a bit and shiver at how cold it was. Brawler secured Beast to his chest and fitted his oxygen mask to the dog’s muzzle, then was first to the hatch with Cameron sandwiched between Shark and Dagger. Nora was behind Twister with Tex bringing up the rear. It gave her comfort to have him there as if he was watching out for her.
The light stopped blinking red and turned a steady shade of green. She heard a voice in her helmet. “Go, go, go.”
It was a mass exodus as man after man fell into the inky black. When she reached the hatch, she had no more time to think, she was free-falling, her flight suit flapping like crazy in the heavy wind.
She couldn’t see the ground, but that didn’t matter. Used to reading instruments to get her bearing, she watched her altimeter rip off feet-per-second too fast to see. Five miles above the earth was a long way to fall.
“Get ready to deploy,” Tex said in her ear, and she grabbed her rip cord and waited for his order. “Now.” She pulled, the chute yanking her back up and filling. She let out a long breath, controlling the lead lines and guiding herself past the thick stand of trees. The clearing below her was the landing zone right smack in the middle of a mass of green. Night vision gave her an advantage.
She counted nine chutes and breathed a sigh of relief. Brawler was done first then silhouettes dropped out of the sky like dominoes. Nora’s boots hit the ground and she tucked, rolled, then on her knees, she drew the chute in fast and tight, then raced to Brawler. He was several feet from the landing area, already out of his jumpsuit and burying his gear. She released her harness, then removed the oxygen and her helmet. Brawler cracked a Chem-Lite as Nora peeled off the jumpsuit, then replaced it with her load-bearing vest and weapons.
Intel said the plane was to the north, buried deep in the jungle. It would be a straight flight from its hiding place to the USS Annenberg, which floated out to sea about ten miles from shore.
The first leg of their journey was completed, and Nora could only be thankful she’d gotten to the ground in one piece along with the whole team. So far so good.
But she suspected that was the easy part.
14
“TOC. This is Tex. We’re passing Corvette. I say again. We’re passing Corvette.” Currently the ten of them were hunkered down just at the edge of the clearing where they’d landed. The briefing showed how crowded the jungle could be, but it was his intention to be much more cautious this time through.
“Brawler, take point.” He stopped Shark and Dagger by grabbing their vests. Letting everyone else pass. “Shark, you watch Ryan like a hawk. Do not let her out of your sight. Same for Nora, Dagger.” He met both their gazes. “If we get into a firefight, I want them eating dirt and keep eating dirt until we’ve neutralized the threat. Is that clear?”
“Crystal,” Dagger said. Shark nodded with that look in his eyes, one that would have chilled a lesser man. “Move out.”
Dagger didn’t move for a moment. “I’ll protect her with my life, LT.”
There wasn't another group of men he would want to do this mission with. He trusted each of them with his life, and he could do no less for Nora. He was determined that they would all make it back home with the plane, pilot and the RIO. With everything that belonged to them.
Tex didn’t mind the jungle. It was like anything else. All you had to do was understand it, and for a man who had grown up landlocked and in wide open spaces, he found the jungle secretive, prehistoric, and more dangerous than it looked.
It didn’t surprise him one bit that indigenous people were being exploited. He suspected that count included women and children. Fuckers. It seemed to be the way of the world and especially here where the government had failed their people. Greed ruled the world.
Insects hummed beneath the brim of his floppy hat. He adjusted the shoulder strap of his assault rifle, less for comfort and more from habit.
They had lost the moonlight as soon as they moved under the thick canopy, the air so heavy it soaked his shirt, producing rivulets of sweat down his spine. His boots sunk into decaying underbrush, the musty odor rising like fog. In front of them, the forest was like a blanket of rolling dense green. They were lucky to have the night vision goggles.
Brawler used his considerable size to forge a path, Beast, as usual, paced him, his eyes forward, his ears alert. Ignoring the sounds around him, the dog was so well-trained to only hunt humans, the small creatures and drops of nuts from the trees didn’t faze him. He was such an exceptional K9.
The coordinates for the plane were about five clicks from where they were inserted. JSOC didn’t want any activity around the plane to make anyone suspicious or curious.
They walked for another two clicks, the jungle slowing them down. Suddenly, Brawler held up his fist and everyone melted into the jungle, crouching low. Brawler came down the middle of the path at a crouching run.
“There’s a major goatfuck ahead, LT.”
“Details.”
“Looks like a small Sanema village with a lot of armed men surrounding it.” I’d say they plan on carrying out some of that genocide the commander mentioned.”
“Combatants?”
“Paramilitary. Thermal shows twelve of them. The miners in the area are neutralizing a threat to their operation.”
A radio crackled in the night and Tex heard a man respond quickly in Spanish. Yes, I am in place. We can go in fifteen.
Tex keyed his radio. “TOC.”
“Go for TOC.”
“We have a situation.” Tex explained the obstacle, well aware that these miners impeded the team’s path to their mission objective, but innocent people were going to die if they didn’t intercede. Rules of Engagement were clear. He had the legal obligation to aid or protect noncombatants, though technically he wasn’t at war with the people here and wasn’t authorized by the Venezuelan government to be here. As trespassing special forces, they had been ordered to remain invisible. The whole thing was a gray area.
“Can you pass through without engaging?”
Tex looked at Brawler.
“Iffy TOC. Too far to go around,” Brawler said into his mike.
“Your call, Gold 1. If you do engage, minimize civilian casualties and footprint.”
“Bondo?”
“I don’t see an alternative, LT. These miners are in our way. They are planning on attacking this peaceful village with intent to murder. I say we engage, neutralize the threat and move on.”
“I’m not okay with leaving these people to die either, LT,” Flash said.
Brawler sighed. “I’m with the bleeding hearts, sir. I heard babies crying. It’s this kind of shit that wakes me up in the night in a sweat.”
It was unanimous. Nothing worse than having the blood of people he could have saved on his hands. Going around wasn’t an option.
He motioned to Ryan and Nora. They came to him. “You will stay here, flat on your bellies, and will not move until one of us comes back for you. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir,” Ryan said.
Nora nodded, the soft look in her eyes bolstering him. He would have argued with any order that had him ignoring these people and leaving them to die when they could prevent it.
“Easy, overwatch,” Tex said, looking at the clearing, noting the crude grass huts and smoke rising from inside. These people lived very basic lives on the fringes of civilization. The modern world threatened their culture, which had thrived for hundreds of years. “The rest of you spread out and take them down without gunfire if possible. Protect the villagers.”
His guys moved left and right to take out the still forms waiting for the go-ahead. He snuck up on his target, looking around to get the placement of his guys. “Execute,” he said.
The man never saw him coming as Tex’s knife slashed in the dark without even a telltale glint on the blade. He surveyed the area, noting that seven bodies littered the ground. Four more miners were oblivious as his guys closed in as silent as death.
Tex crouched holding one of the radios. “Move in.” The order came in over the radio.
Tex responded in Spanish. “Order received.”
Now that the threat was over, he walked back to Ryan and Nora. Both women had obeyed his order to the letter. They were still face down on the ground, their faces just barely discernible.
“Come with me,” he said, and they rose. He saw that the moment it was over, Shark and Dagger were back for the women, each taking on the original order Tex had given them.
Their intent was to pass the village completely and leave them in peace. He would radio pretending to be the miners that they were finished and clean up was in order, but then Tex realized the miners would just come back. These people had only dodged one bullet. Their lives were still in danger.
He started for the village and heard a male voice, speaking Spanish. “Who is out there? Show yourself.”
“Brawler and Flash, perimeter. Let me know if we get company.”
“Copy that,” Brawler said and he, Beast, and Flash disappeared into the jungle with barely a rustle to show their movement.
Tex walked toward the faint light and discovered several men armed with bows and arrows and blowpipes. “We're the US military and we’re passing through. You were targeted by the miners in the area. I’d suggest you consult your local authorities for protection.”
The man spit and laughed softly. “They will be no help.” He eyed them and then said in broken English, “You are here about metal bird in jungle. Too late. Gone.”
Tex pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, absorbing that information. Well, hell, if everything went to plan, he wouldn’t be able to use his reasoning ability on the fly.
“Do you know where they took the plane?”
The man nodded. “I am chief. I tell you about plane. Save villagers, wife, and child first.”
“Sounds like we’ve got a quid pro quo, here, LT.” Dagger spoke to them in rapid Spanish and the man responded. “He says the miners were here two days ago and took his family members and several young men to work the mines. They have tried to get them back and have been attacking the miners. This was their retaliation to get these guys off their backs. He had a man track the plane to where they took it. He will tell us as soon as we return their family members.”
“Did the miners take the plane?”
The chief shook his head.
Great, that left the drug dealers, armed forces of Venezuela, the ELN, or FARC and worse case scenario, Hezbollah. Any of the factions would find the terrorist group quite interested in an American fighter jet and a couple of hostages. They would pay a hefty sum. Tex had no time to be traipsing all over the jungle to discover where they had stashed the plane.
He keyed his mike and filled TOC in. Dade agreed with Tex that they would go after the villagers to get the destination of the plane from the chief.
He moved a few steps away from the villagers with Bondo. “What’s the plan, LT?”
He looked over at Nora and Ryan. Some of the villager women had small children and babies, and Nora and Ryan were talking to them as they crowded around. Nora’s hair shone in the light from the torches. He wasn’t too keen on this hiccup. But the fact was the plane had been discovered and moved. Intel was sparse as the jungle cover was so thick satellites were useless. He couldn’t leave the plane in enemy hands.
“We’re going to save the chief’s people. We have no choice. We’ll leave Dagger here with Lieutenant Wilson and Petty Officer Ryan.”
“Copy that,” Bondo said, following his line of sight with a knowing look.
Tex had to wonder if what Nora said about the Petty Officer and Bondo was true. He’d known the man for years, supported him through the tragic deaths of his wife and daughter. He’d seen Bondo shut down, bury himself in his work. But as he looked at Nora again, he realized the complications of just being in the Navy alone, then being a SEAL, and all the travel, separation, and danger a significant other would have to endure.
It was any wonder any of them ever got married, had kids, and retired.
It took a strong bond, a strong woman. Love. It took love.
He blinked a couple of times. “Rest for fifteen and rehydrate,” Tex said gruffly to Bondo, absently, feeling suspended, as if the world was shifting on its axis and spinning faster. He stared at Nora as she smiled and held a laughing baby. In her, he saw his future, in her he saw the man he was meant to be, a husband, a father, in her he saw…felt…love.
