Choke Point

TWENTY-FOUR

Pepper pulled up behind the old church, switched off the motorcycle, then headed down the back staircase to the basement entrance. He knocked twice, then said, ‘Delta Dragon.’ The door opened and one of the NLA troops allowed him inside. He passed through a narrow, dimly lit hallway toward an office on the right, where Ross glanced up from his desk.

‘I thought you signed on to see the world, not sit behind a computer.’

Ross chuckled under his breath. ‘Can’t say I mind a little recon, though. More boring but less dangerous.’

‘No doubt. What do we got?’

‘30K and Kozak spotted a small cargo plane at the airport. Pulled in a hangar. Pilot seems to have taken a truck. Might be headed here.’

‘Good deal. Cargo traffic to and from the airport is fairly high, so that’s nothing unusual. We need to see what’s inside that truck.’

Ross nodded. ‘How’s the bike?’

‘Pretty sweet for an old girl. You link up with the guy from the ISA?’

‘Yeah, Abdul Maziq.’

Pepper grinned in recognition. ‘Hell, I know Maziq. We go way back.’

‘Yeah, he told me he was a Ghost.’

‘Where is he?’

‘He’s tracking down a problem.’

‘What now?’

‘Old spooky’s in town.’

‘How many?’

‘Just one for now. Once Maziq locates him, you and I need to address this. Let’s call it a security leak.’

Pepper lifted his brows. ‘Sir, I can’t wait.’

‘We need to be careful. Just take him out of the equation temporarily until we’re long gone.’

‘How you wanna do it? Old school or new?’

Ross frowned. ‘Do I look new school?’

‘That’s what I thought.’ Pepper showed Ross his best evil-minded grin.

‘However,’ Ross quickly added, holding up an index finger. ‘We’re gonna have to do this new school. I won’t break the law or violate the rules of engagement.’

Pepper nodded. ‘That’ll make things a little more difficult … and dangerous.’

Ross smiled broadly. ‘I was going to say more interesting.’

Kozak was trembling with excitement. ‘Dude, this is the first time any Ghost Team has fielded this baby. This is one small step for a kid from Brooklyn, one giant leap —’

‘Man, kill the theatrics. That thing looks like it’ll break from just staring at it too hard. How much it cost? A million bucks?’

‘I don’t know. Why are you so negative?’

‘Because we fight with guns — not shit you find on Aisle 5 of Toys “R” Us.’

‘Oh, this isn’t a toy,’ Kozak argued, staring wide-eyed. ‘Say hello to my little friend.’

In his palm sat a MUAV, or Micro Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. Shaped like a dragonfly, the battery-operated ornithopter remained aloft for ninety minutes by flapping its translucent wings as its tiny camera transmitted sound and images back to Kozak’s cell phone. A smartphone application allowed him to pilot the craft and record its operations. Kozak considered the Dragonfly a ‘close quarters drone,’ and with the push of his right thumb, the MUAV hummed softly and flew away toward the roof of the hangar, then descended to zip inside.

‘Those geeks got too much time on their hands,’ said 30K, his mouth falling open as Kozak showed him the camera images piped in from the tiny craft:

The two mechanics were discussing something near the plane, while Kozak flew the drone past them and into an office area cordoned off with cubicle walls. There on the desk were inventory lists and shipping manifests with the Fadakno logo at the top, everything written in Arabic. Kozak hovered over them and began taking snapshots.

‘You know what’s even more cool?’ he asked 30K. ‘The fact that there really are dragonflies here in Libya, so even if these guys spot the drone, they’ll just think it’s a bug.’

‘So you’re a bug pilot. That make you feel proud?’

‘Yeah, it does. Now shut up.’

Kozak worked his thumbs on the screen, and the Dragonfly ascended and wheeled back toward the mechanics, who were now standing atop a rolling ladder and gaining access to the plane’s starboard side engine. Kozak kept a safe distance and decided to have the Dragonfly alight on the fuselage just above them.

Once the drone was in place and stable, he zoomed in on the men and turned up the cell phone’s volume.

The conversation was so dull that Kozak fought to keep his eyes open. They said nothing that would betray them, argued over who’d last serviced the plane, and then got to work.

‘I’m going in with the blanket,’ 30K said. ‘Or if you like, I can just walk in there with another story.’

‘Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down,’ Kozak began. ‘You’re going in? What’re you going to say?’

‘I’ll feel them out. I’ll say how pissed off Hamid is, that this poor aircraft maintenance is ridiculous, and Hamid was mad enough to send us here with orders to kill them if they don’t fix it.’

Kozak gave him a look. ‘Why don’t you run that idea by Ross?’

30K frowned.

‘If you’re talking to them, how’re you supposed to plant the tracker?’

‘That’s where you come in.’

‘I don’t like it.’

30K threw up his hands. ‘The blanket it is.’

‘Let’s just wait.’

‘Wait here all night?’

Kozak narrowed his gaze. ‘They’ll be done soon.’

‘In the time it’s taken to have this conversation, I could’ve been in and out.’

30K breathed deeply and cursed as he slipped off his pack. He tugged out their Cross-Coms, handed one to Kozak, and donned the other headset. Next he removed the optical camouflage blanket and computer, which was about the size of an external hard drive and communicated wirelessly with the blanket. He slipped the computer into his breast pocket, then pulled the blanket over his head. He now resembled a weird Libyan Jedi Master.

‘Camouflage active,’ he said. The computer read his voice command, and he vanished, save for his face, now a sweaty, disembodied mask floating beside the hangar.

‘If they spot you,’ Kozak warned.

‘If they spot me, they ain’t gonna be around long enough to sound the alarm.’

‘Oh, and that’s zero footprint, huh?’

30K rolled his eyes. ‘Hey, they won’t spot me.’

Kozak’s breath shortened as his teammate shifted toward the entrance, the blanket flickering.

‘Jimmy,’ Kozak whispered.

30K turned back.

‘Be careful.’

30K smirked and rounded the corner, the air where he’d just passed bending like a rift in the space-time continuum.