Tracks (55 page)

As they climbed the hill they
began to decipher where they were.  The Mediterranean coast appeared far
below to their right while the chopped rocky terrain of the ridge they had
driven on appeared to their left displaying several scattered settlements whose
lights were blinking in the distance.

The sun was coming up fast and
they each had to settle for cramped space between the rocks half the way up the
hill.

It was a good vantage point
for two reasons.  One, they could see the dirt road, their half hidden
vehicle, and anyone approaching from that direction.  Two, they could see
the coastal highway far below well enough to monitor the traffic and any out of
the ordinary movements.

The down side of their
position was that they were relatively exposed and vulnerable to anyone coming
from the top of the hill.  Both Devlin and Aziz had weapons and ammunition
they took from dead people in the compound, but they had no binoculars and
their only radio was all but useless.

They settled in for the day,
intending to take turns sleeping and watching for any suspicious movement
coming their way but it wasn’t long before their car was discovered.

A shepherd found it when two
of his goats began eating the vegetation around the vehicle.  He seemed
very excited, rounding up his goats and ushering them quickly toward one of the
villages.

They had to make a quick
decision.  Dogs could easily track them and lead their pursuers to their
position.  But it was daytime and they could easily be seen by anyone who
was looking for them.  They decided to climb the rest of the way up the
hill and consider their options. 

They did it quickly before the
shepherd could come back with the troops.  On the other side of the hill
there was a forested saddle with two creeks flowing down its sides, west
towards the coast and east toward the mainland.  The western creek was
somewhat bare so they took the creek flowing east which was well camouflaged
with trees and vegetation.  There was a narrow path along the center of
the creek which allowed the threesome quick movement.  After an hour they
began to see signs of water as the ground became muddy and the vegetation
greener and thicker.  They found a water source and drank thirstily,
realizing they’d had nothing to drink since the night before.

“We need to head toward the
coast if we want to make the rendezvous point tonight,” Devlin said to Aziz as
they sat down to rest.

“We’ll never make it on foot,”
Aziz stated matter-of-factly.  “We’ll need to try and get them to pick us
up.”

“And how will we do that?”
Natasha demanded.  “This radio is totally useless. Do you even know where
we are?”

“I do, more or less,” Aziz
said.  “There’s a village just east of here which historically has
resisted the Hezbollah takeover.  If we can make it there tonight, I might
find someone who’ll help us call in a chopper or take us closer to the pickup
point.”

“Worth a shot,” Devlin
remarked.  “Do we have any other options?”

“Not really,” Aziz said, “but
we need to move out of here in case they find our tracks.”

They continued on deeper down
the creek.  The path was still present but more difficult to follow. After
another hour they reached an opening in the undergrowth.  The creek
widened into a rocky surface where the water gushed into a small pool then out
the other side through a natural tunnel and on down the creek.

It was getting warm and they
all dipped their heads in the small pool and drank more.

“Bath anyone?” Natasha said
with a smile.  The two men looked at each other then at the woman to see
if she was serious.  She laughed. 

“At any other time, maybe,
this would be an ideal spot to take a break,” she dipped her head again and
splashed some water on her neck and chest.

Aziz looked around. 

“I think we should climb out
of this creek to there,” he said, pointing to the steepest part of the gorge
they were in.  There was no visible path in the direction he was pointing
and the wooded slope seemed impenetrable.

“The village is that way,”
Aziz added when he saw the looks on his partners’ faces.  “If we stick to
the creek, we’ll get nowhere.”

They started climbing through
the bush, the thorny underbrush scratching their bare hands and faces making it
difficult to progress.  Devlin led the way; Natasha was in the middle, her
long figure slithering from branch to boulder.  Aziz was right behind her,
panting and sweating, not accustomed to long periods of physical
exertion.  Three hours later the village became visible, its outer
perimeter built into the side of the gorge.  Devlin halted, waiting for
Aziz to reach him and catch his breath before pointing it out.

“Is this the village?” he
asked.

Aziz, wiping the sweat off his
face and neck looked in the direction Devlin was pointing.

“It could be.  I can’t
tell from here.  We’ll need to climb higher,” he said and sat down heavily
on a boulder that was sticking from the ground.  Devlin looked up. 
He estimated they had climbed three quarters of the way but the difficult part
remained in front of them.  The terrain became steeper and the vegetation
scarcer.

He looked at his watch. 
Three thirty.  It was getting late in the day.  He looked at Natasha
who was sitting on a large root that stuck into the air.  She had taken
her long sleeve shirt off, tied it around her waist and was left with a white
undershirt, her white skin glistening with sweat.

“Better put that on when we
get moving, or you’ll end up hurting yourself,” Devlin suggested to her.

She nodded but was too
exhausted to move.

They rested for half an hour,
then
continued on climbing.

CHAPTER
FIFTY THREE

Sergeant Lizzy O’Leary stood
erect on the boat, searching the coast for a sign.  Any sign of danger.

Jimmy the Driver was standing
next to him handling the boat at maximum speed.

It was not yet dawn and so far
they had received partial reports of what evolved in Beirut.  Copeland
reported that Sam had finally met his son.  That brought a loud cheer from
veterans
’
mouths as they slapped each other on the back.  Then the
hazy
reports from the compound began to
arrive.  There were casualties.  That was for sure.  They did
not receive the full account but they were experienced enough to tell when
things
had
gone
wrong. 

Their last contact with
Copeland, a half hour ago, assured them their objective had not changed. 
There were assets waiting to be picked up.  The rendezvous point was
marked on a beach half the distance between Beirut and Sidon near a town known
as Jiyeh.  It was just the right point where the coastal highway was far
enough from the coast and the area was more agricultural where there was less
chance of military patrols or random civilians being present.

Lizzy had the coordinates and
was keeping an eye out on the boat’s compass as the boat jumped and rocked over
the waves.

Lights from the beach began to
appear far in the distance and the Lebanon coast began taking shape. 
Jimmy slowed the boat down and made their approach carefully looking out for
Lebanese military boat patrols.

The agreed sign with Devlin
and his team was an intermittent red light and Lizzy’s eyes were nearly out of
their sockets looking for it.

The map and aerial photos they
had of the beach showed a small pier that stuck out into the water which was
assumed to be deep enough for the boat to reach.

Jimmy had the engine
practically idle as the boat glided toward the pier, but no signal was seen
yet.

Then it appeared, from a point
to the left of the pier.  They could not mistake it. 
Intermittent red light.

Lizzy nearly kissed his
driver.

Rolston appeared out of
nowhere as the boat reached the pier.  Behind him
was
Mai-Li and an Arab who was not familiar to them.

“This is Amar,” Rolston said
quickly as the three fugitives jumped into the boat.  “
Devlin
’s not here yet. We’ve had no contact with
him since Beirut.”

“When did you speak to him
last?” Lizzy inquired.

“When
we reached our launch position with the troop.
 
They were on their way to the compound. 
After that, no
contact.”

Lizzy suddenly realized
Rolston and his team had no idea what happened.

“They took it pretty bad
there,” he told them.  “Copeland reported casualties but nothing about
Devlin and Natasha who he said were supposed to be waiting here.”

Jimmy corrected him.  “He
said there were assets waiting.  He didn’t say who.  He must’ve meant
only you guys!”

There was a moment of
silence.  Lizzy looked at his watch.  “We’ve got half an hour till
dawn.  We can’t be caught here in the light.  So let’s wait fifteen
then split.”

“Mike’s orders were to be back
here at the same time tomorrow if we don’t make it today,” Mai-Li said quietly.

“We’ll be back here,” Lizzy
insisted, “unless they show up in the next ten minutes.”

*****

Kessler arrived in Larnaca on
the first flight he could find from Athens once he knew Sam’s boy was
rescued.  He left his human cargo with the two operatives as escort
instructing them not to dare miss the El Al flight to Israel.

Elena came with him.

Harry Fleming and Doug Collins
were waiting for them at the gate with an airport official who led them down
the gate stairs to the tarmac where a gray Jeep was waiting to take them to a
secluded area where the troops had gathered.

The place was buzzing with
activity.  A field hospital was set up in a hangar next to some parked
Cyprus Air planes and the first thing he noticed when he came in were the six
body bags arranged on the floor next to the makeshift triage where three people
in white aprons, head-covers, and rubber gloves were hovering over a wounded
person.

“Where’s Sam?” Elena was
asking,
then
she saw him sitting on a bench in a far
corner with the three boys who had just been rescued.  They were deep in
conversation when she approached, noticing Sam holding one boy’s hand.

She stood above them and they
simultaneously turned their heads to her.  She immediately noticed the
striking resemblance of the boy to Sam.

She smiled but said nothing,
studying their faces.  Sam smiled back, got up and hugged her, then
introduced her.

Sammy Jr., or Amir, held out
his hand and she shook it gently.  His face was serious, and more than a
little confused. The two other boys, known as Zaidan and Kareem, looked
bewildered.  They were introduced and Sam informed her that Sammy had
agreed to be called by his American name from now on.

“We’ve photographed Zaidan and
Kareem and sent the photos via the American consulate here to the FBI. 
Hopefully we’ll have them identified soon.”

“I am sharing with them
everything we know so far,” Sam said, looking expectantly at his boy.  The
three boys nodded but said nothing.

“Why don’t you join us?” Sam
said, making room for her on the bench. 

“I will, as soon as I finish up
with Kessler.  He asked me to assist him with translations.”

“Is he here?” Sam
queried.  “I need to see him too.”

“Yeah, right over there,”
Elena said, pointing to where Kessler was conferring with Fleming, Collins, the
Seal commander Lennon and the Israeli commander, Dori.  “We just arrived
from Athens.”

“Any
word from the guys?”
Sam asked.

“I’ll find out,” she said and
hugged him again, kissing him on the cheek.  “This is unbelievable! 
You, together with your son!”

Sam gave her an
embarrassed
smile and put his hand around Sammy’s
shoulders.  Sammy did not return the gesture but did not move away either.

“This is a nightmare!” Fleming
was saying, looking around at the six body-bags and the wounded commandos being
treated by medical personnel.

“What happened over there?” he
pressed, looking at Lennon and Sergeant Boone who were still in their
camouflage outfits, their faces dark with soot and their eyes red from lack of
sleep.