Necessary Retribution (36 page)

Robin instantly woke and sat on the edge of his cot. “What's up?”

“Grassley is calling and demanding to talk to you. He sounds pissed.”

Robin looked at his watch and saw it was time to start getting ready for the mission. “That's not a problem.”

“Are you going to talk to him?”

“In a while. Let's get ready for the mission.”

Jonathan adjusted himself in the hard wooden chair. He smiled at the sound of Colin's snoring as he slept on the floor. He picked up his radio.

“Jonathan to Doug, radio check.”

“I'm awake.” Doug answered.

“Roger.”

Jonathan felt sorry for Doug. He sat in a car a few blocks away, ready to start following Bacla when he left for Peshawar. Doug had to move often to avoid detection.

Jonathan leaned back in his chair. The sun sank to the horizon, bringing an end to the day Ahmed's brother was supposed leave. He was getting a little concerned about following their man in the dark with only two vehicles. He was also concerned that Ahmed's information may be false.

During the surveillance, the team had seen Ahmed, an older woman they surmised to be his mother and another young man who appeared to be Ahmed's brother. The brother only appeared twice in two days and didn't seem to be in a hurry to go anywhere. Jonathan let out an exasperated breath. Surveillance can be so boring.

F
ORTY
-O
NE

ROBIN LISTENED INTENTLY TO HIS HEADSET.

“Grassley here. Is that you, Rob?”

“It's me.”

“You want to tell me what the hell you're doing?”

“Not necessarily.”

“Goddammit, Rob, I can't cover your ass if you insist on playing games.”

“I'm not playing games…I'm avoiding them.”

“Okay, let me ask you this. Are you working on the missing items?”

“Yes, we are.”

“Can you tell me where you are?”

Not yet.”

“Jesus, Rob, if you're where I think you are, there'll be hell to pay.”

“Don't jump to conclusions, Bill. We're just following a lead.”

Bill didn't respond right away. “I assume you're working with other clients.”

“Bill, I'm doing the best I can here. We're dealing with an extraordinarily dangerous situation and it benefits the entire world for us to be successful on this mission. Your cooperation gives us an extra margin for success.”

Bill replied after a brief pause. “I'll get back to you.”

Robin took off the headset and looked at Jamie. “What do you think, Jamie?”

“I think the whole thing is crazy, but I don't see any other alternative to what we're doing now.”

“My sentiments, exactly. We'll keep in touch.”

“I'll be here, boss…and please be careful.”

“How ’bout I promise to be tactically sound.”

Jamie laughed. “That'll do, Rob.”

Former Russian General Ivan Picushkin fidgeted with his watch. In a few hours, it will be time for the final transfer of two weapons to the terrorist organization known as Al Qaeda…a very dangerous time for him and his men. Picushkin knew these terrorists were ruthless and considered him an infidel, but he possessed things they wanted very badly. They were willing to buy all four weapons, but Picushkin knew if he gave them all up, he wouldn't likely survive another ten minutes, so he arranged to sell the other two weapons one month after the first two were used. Even that didn't make him feel certain they wouldn't kill him, so he had one more card to play they didn't know about.

Picushkin took a sip of his tea. His stomach constantly ached since he and his men made their move and he knew the Russian government was scouring the world for him. If they ever found him, it wouldn't be a pleasant experience, but he had a contingency for that problem too. Former Russian Major Igus “Poppy” Popovitch came into the room.

“The counter surveillance is in place, General.”

“Very good, Poppy. We can't be too careful with these people.”

“I agree, sir and we have four hours before we begin the exchange. That gives us plenty of time to decide whether things look safe.”

“Monitor the situation carefully, Poppy. The slightest sign of trouble and we will quickly disappear.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Jonathan to Doug, standby to move. A white Mercedes sedan has pulled up to the Ahmed's house. Vehicle is facing north.”

“Roger, I'm ready.”

“Wake up you English dog, we'll be moving.”

Colin groaned as he got to his feet. “Buggers, it's been a long time since I've slept on something so hard!”

“If you were a Legionnaire, you could still do it without pain.”

“That'll be the goddamn day.”

“Better get down to the car. Here we go! Jonathan to Doug, the brother is getting into the car…Oh, shit, they're forcing Ahmed into the suspect car!”

“Doug has the eyeball.”

“Colin to Doug, we'll be behind you in a few seconds.”

“Good idea.”

Robin was jarred in his seat as the AN-12 landed on the strip at Ris
lpor. The pilot executed a short field landing and the plane shuddered as the engines screamed in reverse. The loadmaster and his crew started popping the turnbuckles on the restraining straps holding the Land Rovers as the rear door slowly opened. On the loadmaster's signal, Mike Collins started the engine and drove off the ramp into the night. Robin scanned the area to his right with his night vision goggles.

“I don't see anyone around.”

“Looks like we're clear on the left,” Marv offered from the back seat. A Spetsnaz soldier was the fourth man in their vehicle. Each vehicle had four men, with a mixture of Guardians and Spetsnaz.

“All vehicles clear the aircraft,” Emmett advised.

The three Land Rovers turned left onto a dirt road that went onto a feeder road to the N45 highway. The AN-12 roared off the runway and banked north to Osh. Less than two minutes had elapsed. Robin admired the pilot's skill. He did both a successful short field landing and a short field takeoff on a one mile secondary runway, chosen because it was almost a mile from the nearest building.

Rob keyed his mic. “Road looks clear. Maintain blackout.”

The vehicles turned onto the N45 and headed south. “Spread out. When you have half mile separation, turn your lights on.”

Robin breathed a sigh of relief. At least his team's insertion went well. Burke's voice came over the radio. He and the First Sergeant Setchinko landed at Minhas Air Base.

“Burke to Robin.”

“Go ahead, Burke.”

“Insertion successful. Doug says the suspect vehicle is thirty minutes out. I've sent a team to Peshawar.”

“Roger. We'll have one team standing by to join you on the surveillance. The rest of us will head to Peshawar.”

“Roger.”

Robin looked at Mike. “I hope Ernie and Alex made it in.” Robin's satellite phone beeped. “Speak of the devil…you guys okay, Ernie?”

“Yeah, we're good. Had a guy shine a light on us. We waved, he waved back and that was that. We should be in Peshawar in about an hour.”

“Good. Contact me when you get there.”

“Roger.”

Colonel Rasha Bulechekura reached for the phone that jarred him out of a deep sleep.

“What is it?!” He barked

“So very sorry to disturb you, sir. This is Lieutenant Salishura.”

The colonel sighed deeply. “Yes, Lieutenant.” He didn't want to dampen the enthusiasm of the good lieutenant, his most loyal and conscientious officer at Kohrat.

“Sir, we heard a multi-engine aircraft land on the field and then take right off again. The only thing we saw was the exhaust flame from his engines.”

“Is that it?”

“No, sir. One of our sentries encountered three vehicles leaving the east side of the base.”

“What happened?”

“Well…ah…they waved at each other.”

“Thank you for the alert, Lieutenant. I'm sure it's just those arrogant special forces practicing their missions without telling anyone.”

“Oh, well, I'm so sorry for disturbing you, sir.”

“Don't worry, Lieutenant. You did the right thing. Just note the activity in the log.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir!”

The colonel laid back in his bed and soon fell back asleep.