Eyes of the Hammer

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

"Attention!"

Riley popped to his feet as Powers's voice boomed through the isolation area. Riley stood in front of a folding metal chair, with the other members of Eyes One stretched off to his left along the cinder block wall that made up one side of the room. Across from Riley, the windows facing the parking lot were covered with butcher block paper to prevent anyone from seeing in. Seated in front of the windows, facing him, were the members of Eyes Two.

Separating and perpendicular to the two teams, a dozen chairs were set up. It was to these chairs that General Pike was leading the two people to whom the upcoming briefing was to be given. The "briefback" was a tenet of Special Forces operations that was unique in the army. Most army units issued operations orders for missions and even briefed the plan, but few took the time, or had the expertise at such a low unit level, to prepare a briefback comparable to what Special Forces A-Teams put together.

Riley studied the newcomers out of the corners of his eyes as he stood at a rigid position of attention. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Macksey, led the way and took the center chair facing the front of the room, where the maps for both missions were displayed, tacked onto pieces of plywood. Flanking the chairman, on his left, was a three-star air force general. Westland was seated in the center of the second row right behind General Macksey.

Riley was surprised that there were only three people present for the briefback. He had expected a hoard of aides and self-appointed important people. The small number was another fact, added to the events of the last several days, to convince him that somebody was very serious about security for this mission.

Pike went to the wood podium set up in front of the maps. He waited while Macksey ran his eyes over both teams, still standing. Finally, General Macksey introduced his companion. "Gentlemen, this is General Linders. He's the man on my staff who is responsible for Special Operations."

Macksey took his seat and growled at the team members, "Take your seats, gentlemen." He turned to Pike. "Let's get this show on the road."

Pike nodded. "Sir, you'll be receiving an operational briefback from both teams, Eyes One and Eyes Two. Mister Riley is the commander of Eyes One and he'll start."

Riley walked to the front of the room. He had been nervous before the briefing, knowing that the people he was addressing were, as Powers put it, echelons above God from an army perspective. But now that he was about to start, his nervousness abated and he felt confident. They had a good plan and, more importantly, each member of the team had committed the plan to memory. It was just a question of letting Macksey and Linders know that.

"Good morning, General Macksey, General Linders." Riley nodded to the two officers. "I'm Chief Warrant Officer Riley, commander of Eyes One. This briefing is classified top secret. Eyes One's mission is to infiltrate operational area Harkon, located here in the vicinity of Cartagena, Colombia, at 0230 Zulu time, 29 August, and destroy target Nail One, at 0930 Zulu. The purpose of this mission is to verify and designate for destruction a suspected cocaine laboratory located there. We will be exfiltrated at 1038 Zulu time, 29 August."

Riley halted at Macksey's raised finger. "Yes, sir."

"The time zone down there is the same as here, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir. Sierra time zone."

"So we're talking minus five hours from Zulu to convert to local."

"Yes, sir."

"So you're talking in at 2130 and out by 0538 local. All in darkness. Good. All right, continue."

Riley gestured toward his split team. "Sir, I'd like to introduce the members of Eyes One and give you a brief operational overview. I'll then be followed by the members of the team, each briefing their own specialized areas.

"Master Sergeant Powers is the team sergeant." Powers rose to attention as he was introduced, as did each succeeding team member. Riley watched the general inspect each man as his name was called.

Riley then stepped out from behind the podium and began his description of the operation. He spoke from memory, without referring to notes, and used a pointer in conjunction with the map to highlight a location or route he described. "The concept of the operation for this mission is as follows: Eyes One will depart Fort Belvoir army airfield tomorrow at 1900 Zulu. The flight…"

Riley paused as the air force general, Linders, whispered something to Macksey, who nodded and addressed Riley. "I appreciate your using Zulu time, since that's the proper way to do it, but since everything is in the same time zone, for the purposes of this briefing, let's keep it local. All right, Mister Riley?"

"Yes, sir." Zulu time was used because Special Forces operations usually cut across several time zones, and to prevent confusion and aid coordination, all parties worked off of Greenwich mean time, commonly referred to as Zulu time. But if the general wanted local, the general got local.

"We depart the airfield here at 1400 local. The flight will take approximately seven and a half hours to reach the infiltration point. There will be one in-flight refuel of our C-130 aircraft by a KC-10 tanker en route.

"Our high-altitude release point, or HARP, is here, approximately fifteen kilometers from our primary drop zone, DZ Hatter, which is here. The release point may have to be adjusted depending on weather, most particularly winds aloft. We will coordinate that with the crew before takeoff and en route.

"To get from the high-altitude release point to the drop zone, we will use a technique called HAHO, or high altitude, high opening. Basically, we will fly our free-fall parachutes like hang gliders from our opening at thirty thousand feet to the drop zone. This allows the infiltration aircraft to stay offset from the target over water and should allow us to infiltrate undetected."

Macksey raised another finger and Riley paused. "Won't the six of you get picked up on radar while floating in?"

"No, sir. Our nylon canopies don't reflect radar, and the signature from our bodies will be minimal. Currently, there is only normal air traffic control radar in use in the vicinity of Cartagena. We've jumped into ATC-controlled airspace before and have never been picked up."

Macksey gestured for Riley to continue. Riley slapped his pointer on the map behind him. "Once we land on DZ Hatter we will move to the target and place observation on it to confirm whether or not it is a legitimate target. We will contact the AWACS plane, code-named Moonbeam, that will be orbiting over the Gulf of Mexico. The AWACS will forward our assessment to both the AC-130 Spectre gunship, designated Hammer, that will be en route, and back here to our base of operations at Fort Belvoir, designated Hammer Base.

"If the target's legitimate, Hammer will be on station at 0415. We will highlight the target with laser designators at 0425. At 0430 Hammer will fire. We will then make an on-the-scene assessment of target destruction.

"We will be exfiltrated from this field here — a little over a kilometer from the target — at 0538 by an MH-60 Blackhawk helicopter, designated Stork. Coordination and communication with these aircraft will be done through the AWACS." Riley looked Macksey in the eye. "I'll be followed by Staff Sergeant Marzan, who will cover the terrain, weather, and enemy situation."

Marzan stood up and strode briskly to the map, relieving Riley of the pointer on his way there. This was Marzan's first time briefing the intelligence portion for a mission and Riley silently wished him luck.

"Good morning, sir. The area we will be operating in is bounded by the Gulf of Mexico to the northwest and these mountains to the southeast. Key terrain features in the area include the Caribbean Sea and coastline, the city of Cartagena 14 kilometers to the north of the target, the coastal highway, and, as we close in on the target, this dirt airstrip approximately 1.4 kilometers long that borders the lab site.

"The terrain is mostly swamp, plantation land, or tropical forest. Between the drop zone and the target we will cross what appears to be uninhabited swampland and forest. Since it is the end of the rainy season there, we expect to find the water level at normal or slightly above normal levels.

"Population density throughout the area outside of Cartagena is moderate — approximately one to ten people per square kilometer is the average. The terrain in the immediate vicinity of the target is mostly flat and heavily vegetated. The forest consists mainly of tropical trees with some deciduous. Observation and fields of fire are limited due to the thick vegetation. Concealment is excellent for the same reasons.

"The target itself is partially hidden under the trees. The satellite imagery shows a short airstrip bounding the target on the west side. We have also made out a dirt road leading from the target toward Cartagena and the coast. In the target itself we can see the outlines of three, possibly four, buildings and some metal drums.

"Avenues of approach are basically whatever compass direction we desire to shoot through the swamp. The enemy can also move throughout the area in the same manner and enjoys the advantage of knowing the terrain. There appear to be several small dirt roads in the area and these may be used by the enemy to move by motorized means.

"Possible helicopter pickup zones in the area include the one we are using for exfiltration and our alternate, farther away on the other side of the highway from the target. If necessary, we could use the airstrip next to the lab itself. Other than those, LZs are limited. The beach farther to the west might be a possibility.

"In the area of operations, the weather is expected to be normal for this time of year. Highs during the day are projected to be around ninety-five degrees Fahrenheit, while the lows at night will be in the high seventies. Even though this is the end of the rainy season, the present projected forecast calls for no precipitation. Winds are normally from the north-northwest. Forecast for our infiltration indicates good jumping weather. Winds are expected to be from the north at twenty knots and visibility approximately twelve miles at jump altitude."

Riley looked to his left at Powers and nodded. Marzan was doing a great job.

"Light data is posted here. Of highlight you can see that we will average 10.3 hours of darkness each twenty-four hours. There will be 40 percent illumination on the night of the mission.

"The effect of the weather on either friendly or enemy forces will be minimal. The illumination will aid in our use of night-vision devices and will aid in navigation for our exfiltration aircraft. It is not known whether the enemy has night-vision devices. We are assuming they might have passive devices but it is highly doubtful they have thermal imaging."

If the bad guys have thermal imaging, Riley thought, we might as well kiss our asses good-bye. A thermal imager did away with the concealment offered by both the night and the vegetation by providing a picture of the heat sources in the area. A man's body showed up quite clearly. There were no indications in all their intelligence reports that the drug cartel had yet purchased and utilized the highly expensive and difficult-to-maintain devices.

"The disposition of enemy forces in the immediate area of the target is unknown, but we estimate at least fifteen guards on site. We presume they are armed with automatic weapons with the likely possibility of some crew-served machine guns.

"Colombian military in the area includes elements of the 2d Brigade headquartered in Barranquilla. The closest elements are stationed approximately twenty-three kilometers from our target on the north side of Cartagena. This is an infantry unit, approximately battalion sized, armed with automatic and crew-served weapons. The basic personal weapon of the Colombian Army is the German G-3 automatic rifle. Units also possess their own organic mortars, which we believe are U.S.-manufactured 81 millimeter. State of training and discipline of the army is considered high due to constant operations against the guerrillas.

"There is a rotary wing aviation unit of approximately company size stationed at the Cartagena airport. This unit has four UH-1 lift helicopters and two UH-ls modified with 7.62-millimeter miniguns. We estimate reaction time of this force to range anywhere from thirty minutes to several hours if it is alerted at all. The state of readiness of this unit is expected to be low, as is their maintenance posture. It is estimated that at least half those helicopters are down for repairs. Additionally, the Colombian rotary wing pilots have yet to demonstrate any proficiency at night combat flight operations. They do not conduct flight operations with night-vision goggles.

"The nearest Colombian air force elements are stationed in Cartagena at the airport. Last satellite imagery shows two Mirage jets and one C-126 turboprop transport on the tarmac there. The ability to scramble those jets is unknown."

General Linders interrupted. "Don't worry about any interference from the air. Every night you guys run a mission I'll have air support standing by. If the AWACS spots anything lifting off that could be a threat to you or the aircraft supporting you, we'll take care of it."

Riley was impressed. Somehow, the whole mission had seemed like just a training mission up until now. But the thought of all the support that was being lined up for this mission, and the presence of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and an air force three star, made it all seem real. Riley also wondered how the U.S. would explain the interdiction of those Colombian air force jets to the Colombians on the off chance the U.S. air force did have to intervene.

Marzan consulted his notes again. "Overall, we feel that the greatest enemy threats we face are detection during infiltration and exfiltration, discovery by guards during our surveillance of the target, discovery by local population during infiltration and surveillance, and conflict with regular Colombian military forces that might react to the raid."

Macksey raised his finger again. "How long do you plan to be on the ground following your strike, again?"

Marzan answered from memory. "Strike will occur at 0430 and our exfil will be at 0538."

Macksey considered that. "What do you think the chances are of the Colombian forces getting to the target area in that time frame?"

Marzan paused for a second as he thought out his answer. It had been a question the team had spent a lot of time on. "Sir, I think the chances of that are slim. First, they have to know something happened. Our target is pretty isolated, and if we destroy all personnel on the site, that eliminates a possible source of alert.

"Second, even if someone escapes it is unlikely that they will alert the military. There is the possibility some civilian might report the firing, but in Colombia the people have learned to keep their mouths shut about violent acts."

Macksey was satisfied. "All right. If you need to move up that exfil go ahead and do it, but I accept your reasoning for your present time schedule."

Marzan nodded. "Sir, that completes the intelligence portion. I have here our escape and evasion plan, which has been sealed and should be opened only in case of failure of this detachment to make contact with the AWACS or upon receipt of our escape and evasion code word."

Marzan walked over and handed it to General Pike. It was traditional that the escape and evasion (E & E) plan went to the commander taking the briefback, who personally kept it secure until such time as it might be needed. In this case, they gave it to Pike, because he would be the man responsible for the plan's implementation.

The E & E plan was the team's last hope to exfiltrate in case of the failure of exfiltration on the primary or alternate landing zones, and as much time was put into making that plan as the actual operational plan to hit the target. The entire team had been briefed on the plan and had memorized its contents.

Riley watched as Powers rumbled his way up to the front of the room and centered the tip of the pointer on Virginia on the large-scale map.

"Sir, for infiltration we will depart Fort Belvoir army airfield tomorrow at 1400. We will follow this flight route." Powers traced a route traversing the southeastern United States, looping across the Gulf of Mexico to the west of Cuba, and then skimming the coast of Colombia.

"We will fly approximately ten kilometers off the coast of Colombia. The flight route has already been posted as a training mission with air traffic control in Cartagena. Since the aircraft never crosses over Colombian land, we feel it should not raise any suspicions during the brief slowdown the aircraft will have to do for our jump."

Powers paused as General Linders turned to the chairman. "I've had a 130 out of Panama fly that route the last two nights in order to get them used to it. There's been no problem with either one or any indication that the Colombians are suspicious. The AWACS will do enough scrambling of local radar to allow the gunship to remain over the target long enough to do the hit." Macksey acknowledged the information and turned his attention back to Powers.

"Our high-altitude release point is presently pinpointed at this location, fifteen kilometers from our drop zone at an azimuth of 290 degrees. Five minutes from the infil point I will begin giving the jump commands.

"At 2130 we will reach the release point. The team will exit the aircraft in the order depicted here. As jumpmaster, I will lead the jump and Mister Riley will bring up the rear. We will be jumping off the ramp at thirty thousand feet.

"We will assemble in the air, stacked with a hundred-meter vertical interval. I will be the primary navigator, with Sergeant Marzan and Chief Riley backing me up. The azimuth to the DZ will be 110 degrees from the infiltration point and I have several significant terrain features I will be able to see as we descend and get over land that will guide me into the DZ."

Powers paused and Macksey filled the space with a question. "Will you have internal communications on the jump?"

"Yes, sir. We will be wearing built-in helmet radios. The transmitter and receiver are both built into the padding of the helmet."

The air force general was interested. "How does that transmit your voice?"

Powers just cared that it worked. He didn't know how. He gestured for Marzan to supply the information.

Marzan popped to his feat. "The sound is received via an acoustic transducer inside the helmet padding. The antenna is spiraled around the material of the helmet itself. We will be transmitting on low-band VHF with power setting on low."

Powers explained the reason for the equipment. "We can't use boom mikes, because the turbulence on exiting and the opening shock of the canopy could cause you to eat the mike." Riley smiled to himself. Powers always liked the simple answer.

"Mister Riley has responsibility for keeping track of everyone on the way down, since he's the only one who will be able to see all the jumpers. We will land on the DZ one at a time.

"Once all are on the ground, we will move to the target to put surveillance on it. It is approximately 3.4 kilometers on a magnetic azimuth of fifty-four degrees to our observation point. We will have to cross one danger area along the route, the coastal highway running down from Cartagena. We will use our team SOP for linear danger areas to cross that obstacle."

Powers moved over to the mock-up lying on the floor. Holder had put it together using cardboard, strings, and other handy items; it wasn't the most sophisticated representation, but it did the job. Powers pointed at the northwestern end of the simulated dirt runway. "We want to put our observation point here. If we cannot observe the target sufficiently from there, we are prepared to send a recon team of myself and Sergeant Miller around the northern end of the airstrip to get a closer look. The observation point we have chosen will allow us to designate the target yet still have a good enough standoff that we won't be hit by friendly fire."

Riley hoped the air force general wouldn't react to that. Powers had developed a strong distrust of air force aiming capabilities when his A-camp in Vietnam had once been the recipient of some errant air force bombs.

Powers walked back to the podium. "As Mister Riley said, we will radio the results of our recon to the AWACS and then designate the target and verify destruction. Once we have verified destruction, or if the mission is aborted, we will move to our exfiltration pickup zone, which is 1.3 kilometers from the observation site on an azimuth of 312 degrees magnetic. We will be exfiltrated by one lift of an MH-60B helicopter. The exfil—"

Macksey's voice cut in. "What happens if someone gets separated on infiltration? Hold it — don't answer." Macksey turned to the team and pointed at Partusi. "You answer."

Partusi jumped to his feet and assumed the position of attention, staring straight ahead. "If separated during the jump I will still try to make it to the primary drop zone on my own. I have the same checkpoints memorized as Master Sergeant Powers. I will then link up with the team at the DZ. Standard operating procedure for our team is to wait thirty minutes at the DZ if all are not accounted for initially.

"If I cannot make it to the DZ, due to equipment malfunction or weather or whatever, I will try to land as close as possible to the DZ and make it there on foot inside that thirty-minute window. Failing that, our secondary linkup rally point is at the observation point at the target. I will try to link up with the team there up until 0430.

"If I cannot make it to the observation point by that time, my third option is to make the exfiltration pickup zone by 0538. Failing that, my final option is to go into escape and evasion mode as listed out in the E & E packet General Pike has, the contents of which are classified until opened."

Riley could tell that Macksey was impressed with Partusi's answer. Riley and Powers had always insisted that every briefback be given in the simplest terms possible and memorized by all. Each team member had to understand what was going on. One person failing to know a critical part could spell disaster.

Macksey probably didn't realize that the briefback was for the team's benefit also. Every member of the team had to be able to get up and give any portion of the briefback from memory. They'd rehearsed for this briefback by randomly choosing people to give the different portions. Riley knew that if Pike had been the one taking this briefback, he probably would not have allowed the area expert to give his part, but would have randomly chosen people. It was hard to cover all the intricacies of such an operation in a briefing. According to popular movies all it took to accomplish a mission like this was big muscles and a lot of fancy weapons. In reality, it was the detailed planning that determined the success of any difficult mission. The Eyes One team had to outthink the enemy and every mission's constant companion: Murphy's Law. Powers liked to joke that Murphy was Riley's Irish cousin and that Powers was tired of his team leader bringing his relations along on missions. Over the years both had experienced so many strange things happening on operations, that they tried to anticipate the worst and war-game as many variations of the mission as possible.

The basic plan Powers had just briefed had taken only a couple of hours to put together. It was all the variations and contingencies that had led to the late-night discussions. And after all that, Riley knew something totally unexpected would most likely happen. Then it was the initiative and training of the team members that would make the difference.

Much of the plan was SOP, or standard operating procedure, for the team. The linear danger area crossing Powers had referred to was one of those SOPs. The team's SOP book was almost one hundred twenty pages long and explained damn near any situation they could get into. Everything in the book was in simple detail, with drawings for many of the possible scenarios and reactions to them. For example, each man would pack his rucksack in a standard way so any team member could find needed equipment in another's ruck; another SOP detailed how to break contact with enemy forces coming from any direction. It had taken the men over a year to write their SOP, and after every training exercise it was reevaluated and updated based on lessons learned.

Macksey was obviously satisfied with the answer he had received from Partusi. "All right, go on with the briefing."

Powers put the pointer down on the podium. "That completes my portion, sir. I'll be followed by the medic, Sergeant First Class Partusi."

Partusi briefed the potential medical problems and how the team was prepared to deal with them. He was then followed by Marzan, who was to cover the communications aspect of the mission.

"As already mentioned, sir, our internal communications during the drop and operation will be the helmets. They have an effective range of two kilometers on low power setting. Our external communications will be via satellite communications back to the AWACS. We will make our initial entry report, called an Angler report, upon arriving at the observation point.

"We will radio either confirmation or lack thereof of the target as soon as possible but no later than 0400. We will be able to talk to the gunship and exfiltration helicopter by relay through the satellite and then through the AWACS. All external communications on the SATCOM will be scrambled using Vinson devices.

"It is highly unlikely that any of our SATCOM transmissions will be intercepted, since they are directed transmissions and the antenna is pointing up. However, in the very unlikely event they are intercepted, the scrambling will ensure that they will be unintelligible. I have all codes and frequencies needed. We will refer to all team members and locations by their code names in transmissions.

"All team members are trained in the use of the PSC-3 SATCOM radio and the radio helmets. I will be carrying the primary PSC-3 radio and Chief Riley will be carrying a backup. In the unlikely event both radios fail, we have a visual system coordinated with both the gunship and exfil aircraft. For the gunship, if we have no radio commo, we will signal that the target is legitimate by throwing infrared chem lights onto the airstrip at exactly 0415. We will then designate the target at 0425 with the laser. For the helicopter, we will mark the PZ with an infrared strobe for a two-minute window on either side of 0538. If there are no questions, this concludes my portion of the briefback."

Riley now stood up. "Sir, this concludes the briefback for Eyes One, pending your questions."

"I think I've heard enough," said Macksey. "Very impressive, Mister Riley, Sergeant Powers." He turned to General Linders, who simply nodded. Then Macksey addressed Pike: "You going to have the other team brief now?"

"Yes, sir," answered Pike.

Macksey rubbed his chin. "Isn't that a security violation? What if someone from the first team is compromised on the mission? They could give up the information on the second."

Pike looked uncomfortable. "That's true, sir. Unfortunately, we received both targets before we had split up the team, so both teams knew the targets from the start. They've also been exchanging expertise and information during the planning."

Macksey shook his head. "That was a mistake. In the future I want no contact between teams going on different missions."

"Yes, sir." Pike seemed uncertain how far he should go. Riley had no hesitation about jumping in with both feet, however. "Sir, with all due respect, if my team is compromised or even one man is compromised on this mission, it seems unlikely to us that the second mission would still be a go, since the entire security on this thing would be breached."

Macksey seemed lost in thought for a few seconds. "All right. It's too late now to worry about it." He looked at Vaughn. "Go ahead with your briefing, but don't repeat things the first team said."

"Yes, sir." Vaughn made his way to the front. "Good morning, General Macksey, gentlemen. I'm Captain Vaughn, commander of Eyes Two. Our mission is to infiltrate operational area Eaglet, located in the vicinity of Medellin, Colombia, at 2225 local time, 30 August. Our mission statement is to verify, and designate for destruction, a suspected cocaine laboratory located there. We will be exfiltrated at 0300 local time, 31 August."

Riley let his attention wander as Vaughn introduced his team and gave his mission overview. He looked across the room and caught Alexander's eye. Alexander raised his eyebrows slightly and gave a barely perceptible shrug. Riley knew that the senior NCO wasn't too thrilled about being saddled with a brand-new team leader and team going on a live mission. Riley wished him luck.

Vaughn was using note cards to give his brief, which Riley would never have done. If a leader couldn't remember his plan in the quiet of the isolation area, how did he expect to remember it on the ground when things were going to hell all around him? Riley tuned in to the captain's nervous voice.

"We will designate the target at 0230. Once we check out the degree of destruction we will be exfiltrated by an air force HH-53H Pave Low helicopter."

Macksey interrupted, turning to the air force general. "Why an HH-53? Why not a Blackhawk?"

"Range and mountains, sir." The general consulted a notepad. "It would take an in-flight refuel to make the trip down to Medellin and back from Panama. We'd also have to put extra tanks on the Blackhawk. What I've done is moved a navy assault ship, the Raleigh, down off the west coast of Panama. An HH-53 from 1st Special Operations Wing is in the process of forward deploying down there today and will operate off the flight deck of the Raleigh. Four Apaches are also moving down to the Raleigh to provide fire support for southern targets out of the range of those based in Panama.

"Also, this exfiltration point is on the other side of a mountain range. The HH-53H Pave Low has terrain-following radar and other night-flying equipment the Blackhawk doesn't. It's already set for the in-flight refuel if they determine they need it. This is the type of mission the HH-53 was designed for."

Macksey ceded the point. "All right, continue."

Vaughn looked up from his note cards. "I'll be followed by Sergeant Alexander, who will be giving you the intelligence portion." Riley felt sorry for the NCO: not only was he acting as operations sergeant for his split team but intel sergeant as well. A lot for one man.

"Good morning, sir. I'll try to keep this brief. However, the area we will be operating in is quite different terrain wise from what Eyes One is going into. My team, Eyes Two, will be going into mountainous terrain at almost six thousand feet of altitude.

"Key terrain features in our area are the Cordillera Occidental mountains to the west and the Cordillera Central mountains to the east. Medellin is in the foothills of the central mountain range. Our target is approximately thirteen kilometers to the south of the city. Weather is expected to be good for both the drop and mission, with temperatures in the low fifties at night.

"Population density throughout the area is high. Approximately ten to twenty people per square kilometer is the average. This is one of the reasons we are jumping in higher than our target and working down, since the higher slopes will be less inhabited.

"The target itself is cut into the forest on the side of a hill, as you can see on this imagery. There is a helicopter landing pad next to the target and a dirt road leading through the foothills toward the main road to Medellin. For local security, we estimate at least twenty to twenty-five guards on site armed with automatic weapons.

"Colombian military in the area include parts of the 4th Brigade headquartered in Medellin. The closest elements are about twenty-one kilometers from our target. This is an infantry unit, about company sized, armed with automatic and crew-served weapons.

"There is also the possibility of some guerrilla units in the area, since the hills around Medellin are known to have several guerrilla base camps. We feel that the guerrillas would not engage us, but we are prepared for that possibility.

"There are some helicopters at the Medellin airport. Satellite imagery didn't show any, but intel reports list at least two Huey types there.

"We assume they are hangared out of sight. Some military aircraft are reported at the Medellin airport, but again they must be hangared, since they didn't show up on imagery.

"We have also received intelligence that a Colombian Army Ranger company may be operating against the guerrillas in the vicinity of Medellin. This could cause us some problems, because they might be operating at night and also might investigate any aircraft they hear in the area. Although this possibility is remote, we must be on the alert for the Rangers."

Alexander completed his intelligence portion with a presentation of the escape and evasion plan. He then returned to the podium, figuratively switching hats to do the operational portion.

"Sir, for infiltration we will depart Fort Belvoir army airfield on Friday at 1400. We will follow this flight route." Alexander traced a route similar to the one Powers had shown, except Eyes Two crossed Panama and then flew down the Pacific coast of Colombia.

"We will turn in and head due east into Colombia when we reach this latitude; we will then fly over the Occidental mountains and head for our primary drop zone. We will be jumping T-10 model C parachutes at five hundred feet. This ought to keep us in very tight and keep dispersion to a minimum. We will be jumping automatic CARP, or computed air release point."

Riley shook his head. He wasn't sure which was worse: jumping at thirty thousand feet or jumping at five hundred. At five hundred feet the men of Eyes Two would barely have time for their canopies to deploy before they hit the ground. Riley had done quite a few CARPs, as the air force called them, or blind drops, as the SF guys called them, out of Talons. Very rarely had he been dropped where he wanted to be. Usually, the air force was anywhere from a few hundred meters to several kilometers off the designated drop zone. Thinking about this brought to mind some equipment Riley thought might be useful to Eyes Two in their assembly on the ground. He made a mental note to tell Alexander about it after the briefback. He tuned back in to the brief.

"Once we have verified destruction we will move to our exfiltration pickup zone, which is the PZ cut into the mountainside next to the lab." Riley wondered if that wasn't too close to the target, but he hadn't looked over the Eyes Two AO to see if there were any other suitable sites. The whole area was pretty steep.

Alexander almost seemed to shrug. "That completes my portion, sir. I'd normally be followed by the medic, but his briefing is pretty much the same as the one Sergeant Partusi gave you. The same is true for the commo portion, although we will be using PRC-68 radios for internal commo rather than the radio helmet. I'll be followed by Captain Vaughn."

Vaughn seemed to have gained some confidence as he strode up to the front of the room. "Pending your questions, sir, that concludes our briefback. I want to assure you that this team is ready to go and can successfully accomplish the mission."

Riley gave Powers a sidelong glance. The captain had probably been taught to say that last sentence in the Q-course. Macksey probably wasn't very impressed — it was his job to determine if indeed the mission and planning were viable.

Macksey leaned back in his chair and thought for a few minutes, then stood up and walked to the front of the room. "I have to admit I am impressed with the amount of work you've done under a compressed time schedule. Very thorough. I'm going to recommend approval of these first two missions to the secretary of defense and he'll relay that to the president. As of now, assume you're a go." Riley breathed a sigh of relief. He'd been half afraid that the mission would be canceled.

Macksey looked around the room. "I have one minor change I didn't have time to give to General Pike before coming over here." Riley frowned. What change?

"Eyes One will still use Spectre for Hammer One. However, Eyes Two is going to use Apache helicopters. You'll still use the laser designator, just the firing platform will be different. I don't see any problem with that. This way you also get Apaches to fly cover on both exfiltrations.

"The reason for the change is that General Linders tells me that 1st Special Operations Wing wasn't sure they could keep Spectre on target over Medellin without having the Colombian Air Force scramble. We think that Apaches flying off the Raleigh in the Pacific can make it in and out without getting spotted."

Riley considered this. The change made sense, but he could also see intraservice politics worming its way into the operation. The army wanted to justify the billions of dollars it was outlaying for the new Apache attack helicopter. However, Apache or Spectre, it didn't really matter. The end result would be the same. Plus, getting the Apaches to fly cover on the exfiltration was something they hadn't thought of. It was a good addition. He had thought Linders's reasons for using the HH-53 for Eyes Two's exfil had been kind of lame. If they could fly Apaches in from the navy ship, then a Blackhawk also could make the distance. But Blackhawk or Pave Low — it didn't matter to Riley as long as the damn thing flew. He glanced over at Captain Vaughn. The captain was accepting the change without comment.

Macksey looked at Riley. "The C-130 for infiltration for Eyes One will be here tonight to give you a chance to coordinate with the crew and set up the aircraft. A KC-10 is scheduled for your in-flight refuel. NSA will set up a base station for the SATCOM radio here. Are you all set on your weapons and personal gear?"

"Yes, sir."

Macksey closed his notebook. "Well, then. I would have to say that you're ready to go."

Riley tried to be satisfied. The mission looked good. At first he had thought that taking six people in was a little heavy for what looked like just a reconnaissance and targeting mission, but on reflection he realized it allowed them a bit of flexibility. It also increased their odds of surviving a chance contact with some of the paramilitary folks the drug runners used for security. The plan was a sound one. Nothing overly fancy.

Riley shook his head. It was all too simple. Something was bound to go wrong. They had prepared several contingency plans in the E & E packet, the most extreme being a plan to walk out of Colombia to a U.S. Army post in Panama. The team was carrying a backup laser designator and two PSC-3 radios to up their odds against equipment malfunction.

Riley looked at the members of his team as they packed their gear. All the equipment was supplied by the CIA and was sterile. If captured it could not be traced back to the United States. Unfortunately, Riley mused, the same couldn't be said for the people. They carried no identification and would probably be disowned by the government if captured, but it would still be an ugly international scene.

"Hey, get a load of this!" Riley turned and saw Atwaters holding some glossy paper in his hands. Having gained the team's attention, Atwaters unfolded the paper. "Now who do you suppose put that up in the latrine?"

Riley chuckled to himself. The centerfold from a Playgirl magazine was dangling in the air under Atwaters's fist. Riley had seen the other centerfold one of the team members had put up in the latrine. He'd considered asking them to take it down, in deference to Westland having to use the same bathroom, but he'd decided it was probably better not to make an issue of it. Now he was glad he hadn't. He liked Westland's reply.

Atwaters threw the centerfold in the bum bag, where all the team's paper trash was thrown. Riley held his hand up and pointed at Atwaters. "Take that out and put it back up, or take the other down too and burn it."

Atwaters turned in surprise and sneered. "Why? You want to look at some naked guy, Chief?"

The room fell silent. Atwaters was one of the new guys and had rubbed Riley wrong from the first day he had joined the team. Riley didn't give a damn about the centerfold but he did give a damn about professional respect. Atwaters had just crossed his line. He strode across the room toward Atwaters as Powers quickly moved to intercept him.

Powers put a hand on Riley's shoulder. "Chill out, Chief. I'll handle this pisshead."

Riley stopped and looked at the senior NCO. "Make it good, Top. Because that's his last chance." He turned and left the room.

Powers turned to Atwaters, who had watched the confrontation. He looked at the young soldier and slowly shook his head. "You're probably too dumb to understand that I just saved your ass from a whupping."

"Bullshit, Top. What's the chief got the hots for this CIA bitch that he allows her to put this shit up in our latrine?"

Powers took a deep breath to control himself. "You know, the lady didn't even need to ask you. I could have told her you were better known as asshole than butthole."

He moved his bulk closer to the young soldier. "The chief allowed you to put up your shit, and he only figures turnabout is fair play. And quite frankly, you dumb shit, I don't care about any of that. You open your mouth to the chief or me again like you just did and you're going to be talking out your ass, cause that's where I'm going to put your head. You got ten seconds, boy. Either put that back or take the other down like the chief said."

As Powers was talking, the other old members of 055 gathered around him and added their glares to his. The other new members remained where they were, uncommitted. Vaughn stayed at his desk, obviously having enough sense to stay out of NCO business.

Slowly Atwaters was starting to realize that he had screwed up. "Hey! It's no big deal. I was just joking."

"You'd better readjust your sense of humor or it'll get readjusted for you." Powers shook his head. He looked at Atwaters and the other new members of the team. "Let me tell you people something about the chief. He don't talk much, but when he does you'd better listen to him. You also do not want to get into a pissing contest with the man. Size don't mean shit. There ain't three of you in here that could stand against him at the same time. Chief's got a second-degree black belt in tae kwon do and a first-degree in hapkido. Above and beyond that, he's one of the toughest sons of a bitch I've ever met. And I've met a lot of them in my travels. I've seen the chief empty bars when people riled him up enough."

Powers fixed Atwaters with a long, hard stare. "And you, boy, have riled him. You ain't gonna get another chance to walk away."

The taxi pulled up to the front gate of the American embassy and Stevens got out. As he lifted his bag, he glanced across the street to the Embassy Cafe. He wondered if the bar girl Maria was working tonight. He also wanted a drink real bad. It had been a long, boring flight from Washington.

After tossing his stuff into his room at the embassy quarters and checking in with the deputy ambassador, Stevens went out of the compound and over to the cafe. Going through the swinging doors, he let his eyes adjust to the dimness inside. There she was behind the bar. Just as beautiful as he had remembered. Stevens had planned on eating first, but he passed by all the tables and went up to the bar.

Maria's face was split by a radiant smile as she spotted the DEA man.

"Welcome back, Mister Rich. I missed you." Stevens blushed and smiled. He hadn't hoped for such a positive reception. "It's just Rich, Maria. Not Mister Rich."

Stevens finished another tequila. He knew he shouldn't be drinking so much with an operation coming up the next night, but that was the main reason he was drinking. He knew he wouldn't be able to for the next two days while Operation Hammer was being implemented. Stevens dreaded the thought of two whole days without alcohol.

Maria had been extremely friendly the last three hours. Stevens had enough alcohol in him to work up his nerve. As she came by to give him another round he raised his hand and smiled at her. "Maria, I have something to ask you. Would you like to go out with me?"

The young girl looked at him quizzically. "Go out? Go out where?"

Stevens cursed to himself. He knew she was confused by his terminology, but she had asked a good question nonetheless. Where could he take her? He hadn't thought of that. Grasping at anything, he blurted out: "Come with me over to the embassy quarters. I'll show you some of those books in English you were asking about. They're in my room."

Even as he said it, Stevens realized she was probably thinking he was making a pretty overt pass. But she hadn't said no yet. She stood, regarding him with a half smile on her face. "That sounds like fun. Yes, I would like to see those books. I get off in an hour. We can go then."

It was a long and anxious hour for Stevens. He kept expecting Maria to reconsider and tell him she would not come. But she had remained pleasant and now, at the end of her shift, here she was, ready to go. He couldn't believe he was walking with such a beautiful woman. He didn't dare think of what would happen when they got to his room.

Stevens signed her in at the embassy guard shack, as required, ignoring the curious glances of the two marines on duty there. He took her around to the back of the embassy compound where all the living quarters were and led her to his one-bedroom apartment. He was slightly embarrassed as she took in the normal state of disarray. Even having a maid come in every other day did little to dent the mess he managed to generate in between.

He closed the door and looked at Maria. Somehow she seemed older and more experienced now. She came up to him and looked into his eyes. "Maybe we can look at the books later. There are other things we can do now." He couldn't believe it when she put her arms around his neck and tilted her face up to his.

Stevens managed to survive the rest of the evening without having a heart attack, although a doctor monitoring his pulse rate surely would have compared it to that of a runner battling for the lead in the Olympic marathon.