OUTCAST Ops: African Firestorm

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

From the back of an old Soviet GAZ-51 cargo truck, Tanner's first impression of Eyl was that it was similar to Garoowe, just smaller. The town rested in a valley of sorts, surrounded by rocky hills, and was still mostly in darkness. The convoy drove in from the north along a deserted two-lane highway in the pre-dawn hours.

Axiam gave the team a brief overview of Eyl via radio as they neared the settlement. "The bulk of the town is three miles inland,” the CIA agent explained. “Yabaal's headquarters is in the section fronting the beach. For centuries it was a fishing village before piracy raised its ugly head. For a while, it was like a modern-day Port Royal, with pirates swaggering up and down the streets, until the world had enough and cracked down. Then Puntland came along, pushed the pirates out and reestablished law and order. Earlier this year, Yabaal's goons show up, they take over and we're right back to Port Royal again. Not only that, but there's a couple of warlords who want the town as a home base."

"What about Yabaal's goons?" Dante asked.

"Bullies, but they generally leave the town's population alone beyond keeping everyone in line and the occasional beat-down. They tolerate me because I'm the only khat dealer willing to come out here to deal with them."

Tanner looked back at the rest of the five-vehicle convoy, marked only by their headlights. Besides the GAZ-51 he was riding in, there was a pair of Russian-made ZIS-150s, an American M35 two-and a-half ton cargo truck, and an Italian-built Lancia Ro. While all were far older than any of the drivers and guards, they were decently maintained and there had been no mechanical issues along the entire five-hour trip. Each truck carried a ton of khat, along with supplies for the convoy and Axiam's Eyl-based operations.

The team was split up among the trucks, riding in pairs. Stephen was with Tanner, Naomi and Liam were in the bed of the Lancia, and Dante and Danielle were in one of the ZISs. To disguise themselves, all six wore old-style soviet summer field uniforms, with white keffiyeh, the ends of the scarf pulled up over their lower part of their faces. Instead of their MP5s, still in the team's bags, each carried an AK-47. They also wore hands-free radios under their keffiyehs.

In addition to OUTCAST and Axiam, nineteen other men rode with them, all Somalis related to Axiam by either blood or marriage. Two rode in each truck's cabin, while another three stood or sat in each truck bed. Geedi drove the first truck, while both Axiam and Madar rode in the truck's cabin.

Madar had shown up at the pre-departure meeting with a cut lip and a black eye. When Axiam had arrived, Tanner noticed he had bruised knuckles and shot Madar an angry look, which made the younger man look away. When Tanner asked Axiam about it, the Somali simply said, "Family business," and left it at that.

"Checkpoint coming up," Axiam announced over the radio. "Let me do the talking, and whatever happens, don't react unless they fire on you."

Tanner peered into the darkness ahead, using a set of old soviet NVGs. "Six men," he said softly, "two technicals, one on each side of the highway, each mounting a heavy machine gun."

"Sounds about right. If they stick to their SOPs, they should flick their lights on about….now."

Axiam was only a couple of seconds off as two sets of high beams snapped on, fixing the GAZ in their illumination. The trucks rolled to a stop.

Tanner squinted as four Somalis, two from each side of the road, approached their truck. All four were armed with AK-47s, and wore a mishmash of civilian and military clothing. One of the four started shouting something in Somali.

"He's demanding to know why the convoy is here," Stephen whispered.

The GAZ's passenger-side door opened and both Madar and Axiam got out. Madar carried his AK-47 slung over one shoulder, not in the ready position, while Axiam was unarmed, holding up his hands to prove it. He replied to the question in his native language.

Stephen translated the gist of it for Tanner. "He's telling the roadblock commander we’re carrying khat."

Tanner's eyes shifted to the two technicals — pickup trucks with a machine gun mounted in the bed — and tried to make out the gunners behind the weapons. Both guns, Soviet-made DShk-38s, were pointed at the GAZ, and Tanner knew the 12.7mm rounds could shred the truck and everyone in it in seconds. If things went bad, both gunners would have to be the first gunners taken out.

"I've got the machine gunner on the left," Liam said softly. The former SEAL was already thinking ahead. "Five, you take the gunner on the right. Do not fire unless Prime gives the word."

"Copy," Dante acknowledged.

Tanner noted the gunners' location and glanced down to find the checkpoint commander and Axiam in a heated conversation. "Four, what's going on with our guide?"

"Discussing the size of the bribe Axiam has to pay to pass," Stephen replied. "Apparently the other guy fancies himself a shrewd haggler."

The conversation continued for another minute, fast-paced and with a lot of gesturing. Finally, Axiam turned and walked to the back of the truck with the checkpoint commander and another pirate. The khat dealer shouted up to the third guard in the truck bed, who leaned over and helped his boss unlock the tailgate and put it down. Stephen and Tanner stood back from the tailgate, using the technicals' headlights and their keffiyehs to keep their faces shadowed.

The pirate commander climbed onto the truck bed, followed by Axiam. He poked around the bags for a minute, then turned to Axiam and began haggling again. After another minute of rapid-fire conversation, Axiam let out a snort of disgust, and the two shook hands. The grinning guard commander jumped off the truck and began bellowing orders.

Stephen said, "The commander agreed to the equivalent of sixty dollars and two bags of khat to let us through.”

The two bags were taken off the truck and carried away. The commander shouted to his men and the technicals' headlights blinked out. Axiam and Madar got back into the truck and the convoy rolled through the checkpoint into Eyl.

Axiam had a warehouse, inside a walled compound on the western edge of town. Dawn was beginning to break when the trucks rolled through the open gates and into the compound. The trucks lined up side by side near a squat-looking stone building, when a dozen men were waiting for them. As soon as the trucks were parked, the tailgates were lowered, and the men stated hauling the bags of khat off the trucks and into the building.

Tanner climbed off the GAZ, feeling the aches for standing for five plus hours straight. He looked around, getting a feel for the place. Like his home back in Garoowe, Axiam's base of operations in Eyl resembled more of a fortress than a normal compound, with thick walls and armed guards. From the speed the trucks were being emptied, the trucks would be done in less than half an hour.

"You like?"

Tanner turned to see Axiam standing there. "Looks like you have an efficient system in place," he said.

Axiam grinned. "I minored in business at college, and this is the result."

The rest of the team drifted toward them. "Come," Axiam said. "I'll take you to somewhere you can rest for a couple of hours. After that, I'm going to do some business in this part of town, then I'll take a couple of your people over to the coast and while I do business over there, they can look around."

Tanner nodded. "Stephen, Liam, you go with Axiam when he heads for the coast. Find the ship and dig up any intel you can about the local situation. Once you get back, we can start planning."

Axiam showed them to a small one-story building near the warehouse. The building consisted of three rooms and a primitive bathroom. They found half-a-dozen low beds with thin mattresses in one of the rooms, and a set of low benches around a four-way fireplace in the second room, while the third appeared to be a prayer room. The windows were small, and arched. "Blankets are in there," Axiam said, pointing to a set of steel cabinets in one corner of the sleeping room. "I have to attend salat, but I'll be back in a couple of hours with some food." He left them.

"All right," Tanner said, once the Somali was gone. Liam and Stephen, Dante and Naomi, get some sleep. Danielle and I will stay awake and on guard. I'll wake up Naomi and Dante up in three hours to take watch, and Liam and Stephen can sleep through until they go with Axiam."

"You don't trust Axiam," Stephen said.

"I prefer not to rely on him for all our security needs," Tanner replied. "Keep your weapons close, just in case."