Primary Target

16

The pilots of the Navy SH-60 Seahawk were uncharacteristically quiet as their helicopter cruised at 1,200 feet above the tranquil blue sea. The flight crew’s orders had been simple and straightforward; don’t discuss anything with your passengers, unless there is an emergency, and don’t discuss the mission with your shipmates when you return. The two lieutenants had been instructed to refuel the helo in Cyprus after their passengers departed, then immediately return to their ship.

In the back of the SH-60, Jackie, Scott, and Greg had gone over every detail of their mission. Afterward Jackie and Greg got acquainted exchanging basic information about their backgrounds. Later they went over the radio terminology and code names the team would be using during the operation.

When Scott jumped from the Caravan, O’Donnell would continue on course and monitor the radio calls. Once Jackie had retrieved Maritza and Scott, Greg would declare an emergency, then turn off his transponder and external lights as he dove for the deck and set a course for Athens.

If Greg experienced a real emergency that forced him to bail out or crash-land the rugged Cessna, Jackie would attempt to pick him up as soon as Scott and Maritza were safely aboard the helicopter. If the LongRanger developed problems that forced Jackie to land, she would try to make it to one of the suitable landing sites for the Caravan.

They all agreed it was a fairly straightforward plan, but they knew the devil was in the details. What had they overlooked? What had they not anticipated?

Their briefing gave way to silence as Scott and Jackie checked their personal equipment for the third time. Surrounded by enlarged land maps and aeronautical charts, Scott circled a point thirty nautical miles off the coast of Lebanon. “When you cross this fix, transmit ‘Charlie Tango’ and switch to your secondary frequency for our reply. If we’re off the mark, I’ll give you a plus or minus on our position from the Initial Point.”

“I expect you to be on the money,” came her dry response. “Don’t naval aviators pride themselves on their split-second timing?”

“True,” Dalton admitted with a crooked grin, “but Greg’s been known to — occasionally — be off by two or three seconds.”

Jackie gave him a sweeping glance, then lowered her head and studied the chart for a few seconds. The closeness between Scott and Greg made her feel more comfortable. It’s almost as if they can read each other’s thoughts without speaking.

She drew a circle around a checkpoint and looked up. “Greg will give me a call on primary when you leave the airplane?”

“That’s affirm.”

“I’ll switch to your helmet radio”—Jackie looked up—“and wait for your call when you pop your chute.”

Scott nodded as the helo began to descend. “That’ll happen about fifteen to twenty seconds after I jump.”

She could feel the excited trembling of her nerves. “Once I confirm that you’ve jumped, I’ll trigger Maritza’s sat-phone to alert her.”

“Yeah, we don’t want to forget that,” Scott said with a brief glance. “If either one of us has a radio failure, we operate on timing only.”

“I’ll be there,” Jackie replied confidently.

Scott smiled briefly. “The weather looks good, so that shouldn’t be a factor. If either ship has a problem — mechanical or otherwise — before I jump, call ‘abort, abort, abort, charlie, charlie,’ and we’ll return to our bases. As we’ve discussed, if either ship goes down, the other pilot will attempt a rescue. If we abort, we’ll plan on completing the mission the following night.” Scott looked into Jackie’s bright, gray-green eyes. “Failure is not an option.”

“Speaking of options,” she said, somewhat combatively. “I know we’ve been over this at least a dozen times, but I’m not going to leave you and Maritza there, even if I lose radio contact after you land.”

“You have your instructions, and—”

“You mean orders,” she interrupted.

“I expect to be on the end of the line — with Maritza — no later than ninety seconds after I hit the compound. If we’re not there, head for the ship.”

“Whatever you say.”

“I mean it.” Scott stared into her eyes. “If we’re not there, get the hell out of town.”

Jackie turned and stared at the wake of a cruise ship as the helo began to level off. Approaching the Permak Express from the stern, the Seahawk circled the reddish-brown container ship, then slowed as the pilot prepared to land.

Scott looked down at the slow-moving ship. Leased by the Agency, the neglected-looking Permak Express was crewed by agents who were licensed, professional mariners.

Dalton and his team fell silent while the Navy helicopter stabilized in a hover and gently settled on the ship’s landing pad. Off to the side they spied two Bell 206 LongRangers under a bluish-gray camouflage netting. The helos were painted dark charcoal and bore no insignia. Jackie was relieved to see that both of the helicopters were equipped with wire strike kits and belly-mounted searchlights.

“After we get airborne,” Scott said over the din of rotor-blade noise, “we’ll get a radio check with you from both of the helos, then I’ll give you a call with my helmet radio.”

“I’ll be standing by,” Jackie said loudly, then tightly gripped Scott’s arm. “Take care of yourself.”

He locked her in his stare for a moment, then put his hand on her shoulder. “You, too.”

She smiled and instinctively hugged him, then jumped out of the Seahawk. “Good luck!”

He gave her a quick, modified salute. “That’s the only kind to have!”

As soon as Jackie was clear of the helo, the pilot increased power and lifted the SH-60 into the air. Climbing through 200 feet, the Seahawk entered a shallow bank to starboard and began circling the container ship.

While Jackie boarded one of the LongRangers, Scott fastened his helmet and quickly adjusted his twin boom microphones. The state-of-the-art communication system was voice-activated to allow him to keep his hands free. In the noisy helo, he would have to use the push-to-talk switch to manually override the sensitive automatic feature.

Dalton looked down at the helos and nodded to Greg.

O’Donnell raised his handheld transceiver to his mouth. “LongRanger, how copy Seahawk?”

“Loud and clear,” she radioed. “How about me?”

“Five by five.”

Scott then called on the discreet frequency that he and Jackie would be using after he jumped from the plane. The checks continued until the radios in both LongRangers passed inspection. Once the comm checks were complete, the SH-60 turned toward Cyprus and accelerated.

Jackie watched the helo until it was out of sight, then thoroughly checked both of the rescue helicopters for life rafts, life vests, and first-aid kits. Satisfied that everything was in order, she went about rigging two of the four 150-foot-long rappelling ropes to each ship. When she was finished attaching yellow snaplights above the six D rings hooked to the nylon ropes, she thoroughly preflighted both helos, then went to her stateroom to rest.

Maritza Gunzelman’s shoulder muscles were tense and her stomach was churning. She had been relieved to actually hear Jackie’s voice during the early hours of the morning. The message had taken only seconds, but it was like having a life jacket thrown to her in a storm-tossed sea.

The confirmation of the upcoming rescue effort had boosted her spirits and confidence, but her anxiety remained. When the next call came, she would have to be ready to make a bold move.

From her prior training and from Jackie’s brief but thorough instructions, Maritza knew exactly what she was expected to do during the extraction. When her rescuer parachuted into the guarded compound, Maritza would have to react swiftly and decisively.

If everything went as she desperately hoped it would, she would be liberated from the militants’ compound before the next sunrise. Free from the unrelenting stress, free from the unsanitary living conditions, but most important, free from the fear of being found out, which meant certain death.

Stifling her growing angst, Maritza rose from the straight-backed wooden chair and walked across the cracked cement floor to one of two windows in her cramped room. She surveyed the familiar squalor and the bearded, unkempt men guarding the compound. It was not difficult to understand how the leaders of the front-line terrorist cells managed to recruit so many “suicide bombers” from the ranks of their illiterate, uneducated drones. Returning to her chair, Maritza attempted to channel her nervous energy into confidence.

The militants seemed to be growing more suspicious of her by the day, especially their leader, Bassam Shakhar. A shrewd man who prided himself in manipulating people, Shakhar had an uncanny ability to tell when someone was not being truthful.

Staring at a portrait of the late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, a mythical figure to the militants, Maritza quietly prayed that her rescue would be swift and safe.

Without warning, Shakhar opened the door and slowly walked into the small room. Maritza’s heart skipped a couple of beats. During previous meetings with Shakhar, she had always been summoned to his quarters. This was a first for the wealthy supporter of Islamic Jihad, and it had a paralyzing effect on her. The slender man closed the door, then sat down under a yellowed banner marking the victory of the Islamic revolution in Iran.

Maritza willed herself to breathe slowly and be calm.

Adorned in his usual dark cloak and a rumpled turban, Bassam Shakhar did not say a word while he slowly examined Maritza from head to toe. Although no one would ever accuse Shakhar of being a charismatic person, Maritza could see that he was unusually solemn this day. He absently tugged on his salt-and-pepper beard and then stared into Maritza’s piercing dark eyes, looking for a sign of fear that might give her away — a hint of worry that would tell him that she wasn’t truly one of them.

After clearing his throat, Shakhar finally broke the silence. “We will go to Tehran tomorrow,” he declared in his scratchy, strained voice. “My associates are looking forward to meeting you.”

“I am honored,” she said evenly as a tremendous sense of relief rushed through her. Don’t allow your voice to quake.

Shakhar paused, then gave her a slow, crooked smile. “If you prefer, we can leave today.”

Maritza’s heart skipped another beat and lodged in her throat. He’s toying with me. “Whatever you wish,” she said with as little emotion as possible. “My loyalty is to Allahu, and to you,” she said with conviction in her voice. “I live for Islam.”

Without saying another word, Shakhar rose from his chair and walked out of the room.

Maritza took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Don’t panic. Stay calm and think.