Choke Point

SEVENTEEN

After retrieving his Stoner, 30K ran a sweep of the perimeter with Kozak at his side. The HUD was clear of enemy contacts. The dry docks continued to burn and sizzle, and the stench of gunpowder and gasoline was heavy in the air. The rain had tapered off to a drizzle as they headed back to link up with Pepper and Ross, who’d moved Delgado to some cover beneath the trees.

‘Look at him,’ grunted 30K as they approached. ‘He’s dead as a doornail. Mission fail. Shit.’

‘Hey, we got him,’ said Kozak. ‘The fact that he’s dead could be considered just a detail.’

‘Yeah, a real inconvenient detail.’

Kozak called in the drone, catching it like a trained bird, then tucking it back into its holster. ‘I’ve got the location of the first drone,’ he said, studying his remote. ‘We need to go get it.’

‘Yeah, yeah …’ 30K had been hoping for a feel-good, kick-ass mission, one for the record books. What he got was a minor gunshot wound and a failed rescue attempt. Not exactly a world-class memory.

They reached the captain and Pepper, and Kozak’s tone grew a bit more somber as he made his request.

Ross glanced back at him. ‘Take 30K. You got ten minutes. Marine patrol boats are on their way to mop up, and we need to be out of here by then.’

‘Lead the way,’ 30K told Kozak, and once they were out of earshot, he added, ‘Ross sounds bummed. What did I tell you?’

Kozak scowled. ‘I’ll give you a dollar to shut up — because you couldn’t have done any better.’

‘Oh, yeah?’

‘Yeah. ’Cause they’ll never put you in charge.’

‘Why’s that?’

‘Because in five minutes you’d cause an international crisis.’

30K chuckled over that. ‘Yeah, I guess I would.’

Ross was watching Pepper search the bodies around the SUVs as he put in the dreaded call to Mitchell. ‘Guardian, this is Delta Dragon, over.’

‘Delta Dragon, Guardian. SITREP?’

‘We’ve scuttled a narcosub and destroyed the dry docks.’ Ross took a deep breath. ‘Unfortunately, our package has expired, over.’

Mitchell’s hesitation was enough to make Ross vomit all the stress and anger. Some first impression, huh?

‘Delta Dragon, you’re to recover the body and have it transported back to Bogotá. The Agency will take over from there.’

‘Roger that, sir.’

‘Now listen to me carefully. On board one of the Colombian patrol boats is an operator call sign Adamo. He’s a US State Department advisor and an old friend. Stay put till he arrives. He’s got some updated intel for you. Guardian, out.’

Updated intel? Ross thought. What did this guy know that Mitchell didn’t? Why wasn’t Mitchell conveying this information himself? The major had said that there was no love lost between him and Langley … so what was this about?

Pepper’s body searches had come up empty. When he passed this on to Ross, the man reached into his pocket and handed him a metal plate. ‘I ripped it off one of those air compressors. That’s why I went back in the sub.’

‘Nice …’ Pepper used his Cross-Com’s camera to snap a photo of the air compressor nomenclature plate, then he used voice commands to upload that photo to GST headquarters, where intelligence analysts would better identify it.

‘Delta Dragon Two, this is Guardian Base, over,’ called the intel analyst. Woman’s voice. Sexy. But then again they all sounded sexy to him.

‘Guardian Base, this is Delta Dragon Two. That was fast.’

‘Roger that. Farsar Tejarat comes up as an Iranian medical air compressor manufacturer. The Model 06 doesn’t show in their sales listings. Looks like they’re moonlighting. Serial number 02769 came up on a bill of lading — along with serial numbers 02770, 02771 and 02772 — shipped from Fadakno Piping Company in Tobruk. The phone number on the plate matches a local number for the Fadakno warehouse, over.’

‘Roger, received. Where’s Tobruk, over?’

‘It’s a Libyan deep water port on the Mediterranean, over.’

‘Roger that. Need to brush up on my geography.’

‘Sending e-mail copy to your team now. More specific intel to follow. Guardian Base, out.’

Kozak found the primary drone wedged between two branches about six meters up, and he activated the secondary drone to fly up there and knock the first one free.

The plan was ridiculously simple and should have gone down by the numbers.

However, after several attempts of squinting through the rain and deepening gloom and trying to maneuver the secondary drone just right to force the first one free, the thing just wouldn’t budge, and he feared he’d damage both drones if he continued.

‘It’s not working. Can you climb up there and get it?’ he asked 30K.

‘Are you serious?’

‘Look, man, I still don’t feel good,’ said Kozak, feigning dizziness. ‘Come on, do me a solid.’

‘Hey, my arm hurts,’ said 30K, showing Kozak where he’d been grazed. ‘My monkey skills suck right now.’

‘Are you dizzy?’

‘No.’

Kozak nodded. ‘Then come on.’

After reciting a string of epithets, 30K shoved his reloaded Stoner into Kozak’s hands, then he reached up and grabbed the nearest branch. ‘You know when’s the last time I climbed a tree?’

‘When you were a kid?’

‘No, when I was regular Army back in the ’Stan. Kids were always flying those kites, you know? One kid’s got stuck in a tree. He cried for me to get it down. So I went up there, but some Taliban assholes took advantage of that and started shooting. Got two in the plates before my buddies took ’em out. I mean, how do you like that shit? I’m trying to save a kite for some kid, and those bastards decide to engage me. I mean, I hate fighting against cowards like that. Got no respect for them at all.’

‘Man, that sucks,’ said Kozak, feeling the guilt of pressuring 30K work into his throat. ‘So now you have an aversion to trees.’

‘You could say that.’

‘You get the kite?’

30K gave him a look. ‘Yeah. I got the kite. But it was full of holes.’

‘Swiss cheese.’

‘Don’t talk about food.’

‘You hungry, too?’

‘Dude, I could eat an entire tray of lasagna right now.’

‘And wings. Fifty wings.’

‘At least.’ 30K reached the branch where the drone was stuck and began to inch his way toward the end like a clumsy caterpillar, the branch bending more sharply with each move. ‘Dude, I can’t reach it.’

‘Don’t give up. You’re almost there.’

30K’s attention was diverted away, over Kozak’s shoulder. ‘Aw, hell,’ he said. ‘The Marines are already here.’

‘Then hurry up!’

He shifted forward once more.

And the branch snapped.