The Gambit

XXX

Ayal and his two teammates had joined the half of the team that had been left to commandeer the motorcade limousines and form somewhat of a perimeter so that the assault force could make it back to the limos relatively easily. However, things had really heated up after the initial gunfire from the conference room guards; that short AK-74 burst alerted the entire complex. Though less than a minute had elapsed from that time, dozens of IRGC forces descended upon the complex and, while Sanchez’s perimeter team had been able to keep the IRGC at bay without injury, that couldn’t last.

Sergeant Rossi was the first to go down. No sooner had he exited the building than he took a round to the lower abdomen, just below his Kevlar vest. Ferro rushed to him and dragged him the short distance to one of the limo’s and quickly began the triage to treat the wound. The one nice thing about these presidential limousines, Ferro thought, was that they had plenty of space in which to work; he needed that now.

Ben, Dani, and Stonewall had each grabbed one of their captives and ran the gauntlet to the parked motorcade together. All three found the enemy fire relatively light until they reached the motorcade, whereupon as soon as each captive entered their respective sedan, the incoming fire increased exponentially. As soon as Ben threw General Suleimani into his sedan, he took two rounds to his right upper chest, each stopped by his vest, and a third to the right shoulder just where the vest ended. The impact of the three successive rounds to his right spun him around and actually dropped him into the sedan where upon Ayal pulled him clear of the door and slammed it shut behind him.

Dani and Stonewall each headed to the same sedan, with Jackson and Rafsanjani about ten feet behind her and Jalili. As Dani threw Jalili into the car, she took two near simultaneous rounds, one just above her right breast, the other just below her right shoulder blade. Her vest stopped both rounds, though the impact felt like a sledgehammer hitting her from the front and back at the same time. Just before she collapsed under the impact of these two bullets, a third round found her thigh, completely taking her down. Stonewall, following immediately behind her, threw Rafsanjani into the car, picked Dani up and threw her in and then he himself took four rounds to the back, literally propelling him into the car on top of Dani.

“I told you, you’d never get out of here alive,” Rafsanjani hissed.

Stonewall took one look at him and followed that up with a powerful blow to Rafsanjani’s jaw. “You just watch, Colonel. You’ll be on a plane out of here before you know it.”

“Ah…” Dani moaned in pain. “I wish you’d have let me do that!”

“Sorry, wasn’t up for discussion. How’s that leg of yours?” Jackson asked.

“Hurts like hell; think I’ve got a broken rib or two, as well; it really hurts to breathe. How’s it look?” She asked.

Jackson had already ripped open her pants leg and began examining the wound. “There isn’t a lot of blood; looks to be through and through. Looks like the Kevlar stopped the other two. Can you take a deep breath?”

“No, I can’t. It really hurts,” Dani exclaimed, obviously short of breath.

“Hey, Ferro,” Jackson called to his senior medic up ahead. “Dani took two rounds on either side of the chest and I think she’s got a collapsed lung. I think….”

“Chaos, I’m a little busy here. You know what to do — you’ve done it before; just let me know if any blood comes out once you stab her.”

“Okay, will do.”

“Jericho Six; Chaos.” Jackson called to Captain Sanchez as he quickly rummaged through the limo's first aid kit. Being a presidential limo, the first aid “kit” rivaled that of a small clinic. “How’d we make out? Is everybody on board and ready to roll?”

“All present and accounted for, Chaos. Let’s get out of here.”

“Hawkeye, we’re on our way out. We’re all in the presidential motorcade limos — there should be five vehicles. Take out anyone following us. We’ll meet you at the junction of the Shahid Hemmat Expressway and the Emam Ali Highway; we’ll be waiting for you. Don’t take too long.”

“Roger that; see you in a couple minutes.”

“We need to get that vest off of you,” Stonewall said to Dani as he began to remove her vest. “I think you’ve got a collapsed lung in addition to a couple broken ribs. This is going to hurt but I need to insert a needle into your chest to get that lung re-inflated.”

“Jericho Six; Chaos. What’s are status?” Jackson called out as he continued working with Dani.

“Chaos, looks like all four of you got hit. Rossi took a round to the gut just below his vest. Ferro’s working on him now. Ben took three rounds to the shoulder — his vest stopped two of them. I think we’ve got the bleeding under control but he’s hurt bad. How’d you two make out?”

“Arielle took two to the vest, one to the thigh, though it doesn’t look too bad. I think she also has a collapsed lung from the two hits she took,” Jackson replied as he finished cutting away Dani’s shirt.

“You know,” Dani remarked, grimacing in obvious pain, “this isn’t exactly how I planned on you getting my top off.”

This brought a wry smile from Stonewall. “Don’t worry, I left your Under Armour on. Okay, you ready for this?” He asked her as he felt around looking for the gap between her second and third ribs.

“Ready when you are,” came her reply.

“Ah!!!! Oh, that hurt!” Dani cried out, as Jackson inserted the needle from the large syringe. As he pulled back on the syringe it quickly filled with air and a small amount of fluid.

“Archangel, Chaos; we’re on our way out and will be meeting up with Hawkeye in a couple minutes. You can tell the boys in blue to ‘cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war’; just don’t cut our escape route!”

“Roger that, Chaos,” Archangel replied. And with that, Admiral Fischer gave the order for a full squadron of B-1’s and half a dozen B-2’s orbiting Tehran to commence their operations. Virtually every remaining IRGC member, and every governmental official and office who in anyway supported the radical theocracy came under the awesome destructive firepower of either a Lancer or a Spirit.

“Archangel, are we going to have a doc on that Hercy-bird? We have three Whiskey India Alpha, two severe.”

“That’s a negative, Chaos. Get to the Bat Cave and we’ll have medics standing by when you land.”

“Roger that.”

“Jonah, looks like we have couple tails on our friends,” Sgt. Luna said to his compatriot. “I’ll take the first car; you can take the second one.”

“Will do,” replied Jonah.

With that, Sergeant Luna took a bead on the first car that began to chase after his team. The perch that Ben had picked out for them provided them a perfect over-watch for any vehicle exiting the complex: every single vehicle exiting the complex had to drive straight towards them for the last couple hundred yards before it left the parking lot. As the first vehicle rounded the corner for the last two hundred yards, Luna centered the reticle of his high-powered scope right on the driver. When the vehicle was roughly fifty yards from the exit, Luna pulled the trigger. The .338 Lapua round leapt from the rifle with an enormous report. The driver of the vehicle heard the loud report, and instinctively knew there was trouble, but never had the opportunity to do anything about it: the .338 slug entered the driver’s body just above center mass where the breast bone ends and the neck begins, virtually decapitating the driver. The vehicle, now driverless, careened out of control crashing into the guard shack and coming to rest there, blocking the entrance lane into the complex.

Jonah took the second vehicle and timed his shot about the same as did Luna, with very similar results. Jonah’s shot actually came just a few seconds after Luna’s with the result that the second vehicle crashed into the back end of the first vehicle. The parking lot exit wasn’t completely blocked but anyone trying to get out of the lot would now have a serious obstacle to overcome.

“Nice shooting, Luna,” exclaimed Jonah.

“Not so bad yourself,” replied Luna. “Let’s get out of here while we still can.”

“Roger that. Zivah, we’re on our way down.”

“Ready to rock n’ roll whenever you get down here,” Zivah exclaimed.

“Jericho Zero-Three, if you haven’t already, let’s get that CAS going.” Jackson said to the senior Special Forces communications sergeant, referring to the close air support they were supposed to have. “We’re supposed to have virtually everything in the arsenal at our disposal.”

“Roger that, Chaos. Eagle Control advises that we have a complete squadron of Warthogs at our immediate disposal. We also have Vipers and Super Hornets standing by but the Warthogs are immediately available. We might get lucky and get some Apache Longbows; they’re on their way but had to refuel and re-orient their payload at the Bat Cave.”

“Jericho Zero-Three, Eagle Control knows our escape route?” Jackson replied, referring to an orbiting E-2D Hawkeye from the George Washington. Jericho Zero-Three and Zero-Eight, the two Special Forces communications sergeants for the team, would be the JTAC’s — Joint Terminal Attack Controller — for the little convoy while Eagle Control in the orbiting Hawkeye would control the air assets available to the Jericho team.

“That’s affirmative, Chaos. Eagle Control has our planned route and has been advised that we are in the supreme leader’s motorcade.”

“Okay; let’s make sure they are aware of the one trailer we have with our Hawkeye team.”

“Already done, sir. As soon as they show up we can head out. The Hawgs are standing by.”

“Hawkeye, Chaos. What’s your position?”

“We have you in sight, sir; be there in a few seconds.”

“Roger that. Jericho Zero-Three, let the airedales know we are on the move. Let’s move out.”

“Eagle Control, Jericho Zero-Three. Who do we have for the Hawgs?”

“Jericho Zero-Three, their call sign is Sun Devil. Sun Devil Zero-Six is their lead and they are on this frequency.”

“Jericho Zero-Three, what is your position?” asked Sun Devil Zero-Six.

“Sun Devil Zero-Six, we are at the intersection of Shahid Hemmat Expressway and Emam Ali Parkway in a five vehicle presidential motorcade, all black limos.”

“Roger that, Zero-Three; I have you in sight. I have a Humvee-type vehicle heading your way at a high rate of speed on the Shahid Hemmat Expressway.”

“Zero-Six, that could be our sniper team.”

“Roger that; have them flash their head lights Zero-Three.”

“Hawkeye, Jericho Zero-Three; flash your headlights.”

“I see them. Okay Zero-Three, we have your route to the Bat Cave; we’ll escort you along the way. I'll be your FAC(A);”—Forward Air Controller (Airborne)—“my whole squadron’s here with you Jericho Zero-Three. We’ll get you home.”

“Roger that, Zero-Six. Appreciate the escort; be advised I’m in the second vehicle; Jericho 08 is in the last vehicle operating as the rear JTAC.”

“Chaos, Jericho Zero-Three; not sure if you heard, we have a squadron of Hawgs with us; call sign Sun Devil. They are on station and have us in sight. Sun Devil Zero-Six will be working as our FAC(A).”

“Roger that, Zero-Three. Hawkeye just showed up so let’s get going.”

“Sun Devil Zero-Six, Jericho Zero-Three; we’re heading out. Let us know how the traffic looks along the way. Tehran is notorious for traffic — the last thing we need is to get stuck in a traffic jam. We are in the Supreme Leader’s motorcade so that will help clear the way to some extent but nothing was done to clear the way ahead of time. We are at the tail end of their rush hour so I’m expecting we could get some congestion somewhere — even without the IRGC giving chase.”

“Jericho Zero-Three, always wanted to be a traffic reporter once I leave the Air Force — we’ll give you an up to the minute report on any traffic accidents we happen to see.”

“Copy that, Zero-Six. And, if we happen to see any missile batteries or man-pads, we’ll be sure and let you know,” replied Zero-Three.

“You do that, Zero-Three. A simple man-pad could really ruin our day out here. You are aware that your route is taking us directly past the Doshan Tappeh Air Base, right? We’ve eliminated their Fighter threat but the AAA threat remains.”

“Wasn’t responsible for putting this route together Zero-Six, but if we see anything, we’ll be on it and let you know.”

“Sun Devil Zero-Six, Jericho Zero-Eight; we have several vehicles coming up behind us very fast. We’re going to need them taken out right away. They are way too close for missiles; I sure hope you guys have a full load of thirty mike-mike.”

“Roger that, Zero-Eight; we’re fully loaded. We’ll be coming from directly ahead of you; keep your heads down, guys.”

Not ten seconds later, a sound similar to a very loud zipper erupted over the small motorcade followed by four IRGC cars, which had been chasing the motor cade, being completely shredded by the impact of a couple hundred rounds of 30mm shells. The one unique feature of the A-10 Warthog — Hawg, for short — is its 30mm Gatling gun. The A-10 had been designed specifically for close air support: the pilot actually sits in what amounts to a bullet-proof titanium bathtub while the entire aircraft has been built around the Gatling gun. The aircraft also has a dozen fixed hard-points under its wings to carry all sorts of CAS munitions. Its original intent had been to take out Soviet tanks rumbling through the Fulda Gap in Germany, and its gun could literally rip a Soviet tank to shreds. The demise of the old Soviet Union did nothing to eliminate the effectiveness of the Warthog: it remains the preeminent fixed wing close air support aircraft — and Jackson and his Jericho team had a dozen of these planes escorting them through Tehran and out to the Bat Cave.

“Nice work on those IRGC guys, Zero-Six; they’re completely shredded.”

“Chaos, Jericho Zero-Eight; I think word has gotten out that we either don’t have their Supreme Leader with us or that we’ve taken him out. The intensity has really picked up. We’re starting to get direct fire of all types — the RPG’s are as thick as hail — and they don’t seem to be too worried about our passengers.”

“Zero-Eight, Chaos; yeah, I noticed that, too. The RPG fire hasn’t been too accurate but it’s only going to take one hit to ruin this parade. Keep that CAS coming; that’s about the only way we’re going to get out of here.”

“Roger that, Chaos.”

“Sun Devil Zero-Six, Jericho Zero-Three; we are approaching an overpass at Masil-e-Bakhtr and it looks as though the IRGC has a welcoming party there for us; going to need some help here.”

“Roger that, Zero-Three; we’re on it. Approaching from directly behind you; keep your heads down.”

Once again, a loud zipper-like noise erupted directly over the motorcade; this was followed by another Hawg flying perpendicular to the motorcade and directly on top of the overpass. Again, the pilot unleashed his 30mm gun on the blocking party on the overpass — absolutely nothing was left on the overpass.

“Nice work, Zero-Six! That was awesome!”

“Roger that, Zero-Three. It looks like we’re going to be busy the rest of the way. Each overpass looks as though they mean to stop you; and I suppose with good reason. We’re seeing more and more troops gathering to try and stop you guys at each overpass.”

“Roger that, just make sure you don’t actually knock any of these bridges down; the last thing we need is a complete roadblock from a dropped bridge!”

“We’ll try and keep them up for you, Zero-Three.”

For the next fifteen minutes, the two Special Forces communications sergeants, working as the JTACs for the motorcade, and Sun Devil Zero-Six, working as the FAC(A) operated in perfect harmony as any of the best philharmonic orchestras could perform. However, as they made the turn onto the Azadegan Expressway, Jericho Zero-Eight watched in horror as one of the Hawgs picked up a heat seeking missile from a man-pad after a strafing run. The shooter had been hiding under the overpass and had been completely missed as the motorcade had completely bypassed the bridge.

“Chaos, Jericho Zero-Eight; Hawg down! Repeat, we have a Warthog down!”

“Zero-Eight, was the pilot able to bailout?”

“Roger that; we can see the parachute. He’s drifting away just to the south of us.”

“Zero-Eight, take Hawkeye with you and get that pilot,” Jackson immediately ordered.

“Sun Devil Zero-Six, Chaos Actual; Jericho Zero-Eight and Hawkeye are en route to the crash site to rescue the pilot. They have priority. We can hold our own for a few minutes.”

“Roger that Chaos. We should be able to cover both of you. We have some fast movers on standby just in case. You’re not alone, Chaos.”

“08, how soon before you can get to the pilot?”

“Chaos, looks like he’s drifting down into some type of park or sports complex. We should be there in a couple minutes.”

“Jericho Zero-Eight, Sun Devil Zero-Six; our pilot is in that complex. There’s a small man-made lake and opposite that, about half a mile to the east, is a soccer field; our pilot is right about in the middle of the two.”

“Roger that, Zero-Six; we can see the parachute blowing in the wind. We’ll be there in a few.”

“Jericho Zero-Three, Chaos; I’m sure you heard — we have a Hawg down and I’ve split the team, sending Hawkeye and Jericho Zero-Eight to retrieve the pilot. We’ll be waiting for them to get back here and join up with us. In the meantime, we’re sitting ducks. Keep that CAS coming as that’s our only saving grace.”

“Roger that, Chaos. I just heard from Sun Devil Zero-Six, the Apaches just showed up and are on station, we have six of them and they’re loaded for bear!”

“Awesome! Send one of them with Zero-Eight for any support they might need.”

“Roger that, Chaos.”

“Archangel, Chaos; we have a Hawg down. I’ve split up my team — I’ve got a small unit going to rescue the pilot while we wait at an under pass for them to return with the pilot. The FAC(A) saw the pilot go down and is guiding my team to where he saw the pilot land.”

“Roger that, Chaos. Let us know if you need any further support.”

“Roger that. The Apaches just showed up so they should take care of any immediate threat we have.”

“Hey guys, grab your rifles,” Zivah said to Jonah and Luna. “Looks like our pilot already has a welcoming party; going to need to break that up.”

“Yeah, looks like we have, what… three, maybe four, guys there? Jonah, you take the one on the left and the driver of the Humvee? I’ll take the two on the right.”

“Got it; let me know when you’re ready.”

Zivah had now parked their Humvee and both Jonah and Luna were set up. “Okay, Jonah, on my mark… three, two, one, fire.” And with that, two .338 slugs dropped the two IRGC soldiers immediately around the pilot. A few seconds later, the third soldier and the driver met the same fate as their two compatriots.

“Okay, Zivah, we need to hurry; they obviously know where the pilot landed. Let’s get over there, grab the pilot, and get out of here.” Jonah ordered Zivah.

“Roger that,” she replied.

Twenty seconds later, they pulled up to where the pilot lay in the field.

Luna was the first one out of the Humvee. “Are you okay?” He asked, noticing that the pilot had an obvious broken leg.

“Bailing out at five hundred feet isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” replied Captain Andrea Parker, wincing in obvious pain.

“No doubt” replied Luna. “Let’s get you loaded up and get out of here before the party really gets started.” With that, both Luna and Jonah placed Captain Parker in the back of the Humvee as Zivah took off rather hurriedly.

“Sun Devil Zero-Six, Jericho Zero-Eight; we have the pilot and are heading back to the rest of the convoy. She’s a little banged up and definitely won’t be dancing anytime soon but we got her.”

“Roger that, Zero-Eight. You’ve got an Apache flying top cover for you on the way back to the convoy. They’re waiting for you at the junction of the Azadegan Expressway and Highway 71.”

“Chaos, Jericho Zero-Eight; we have the pilot and are headed your way; ETA, two minutes.”

“Roger that. Nice work, Zero-Eight. How’s the pilot doing?”

“She’s got a badly broken leg. We need to transfer her to Ferro’s rig and let him take a look at her when we get back.”

“Roger that; we’ll be waiting for you.”

“Ferro, Chaos; how’s Rossi doing?”

“I’ve got him stabilized. He’s taken a gut shot so he needs to see a doc as soon as possible.”

“We won’t be able to get him one until we fly out of here so it’s going to be a few hours. Jericho 08 has another patient for you as well. You have room for the pilot they just picked up? Sounds like she has a badly broken leg.”

“Yeah, I’ve got room here. Thanks for the heads up; I’ll be waiting for them. By the way, how’s your patient doing?”

“She’s doing fine; thanks for the training, boss,” Jackson responded.

“Any word on Ben?”

“He’s in another car but word is he’s stable. I haven’t had a chance to look at him.”

“Okay, Ferro, keep me posted.”

Sitting back in the lead car, Dani had the chance to finally see Stonewall at his best: the situation couldn’t have been more chaotic. In the midst of an unbelievably chaotic situation, Stonewall continued to organize the chaos: He was constantly on the radio talking to his team, talking with Archangel, dividing his team even under extremely dangerous conditions to recover the downed pilot, handling the medical needs of both his team and now that of the pilot, all while continuing to monitor the desperately needed air support that Jericho Zero-Three continued to provide. She had seen Ben in similar situations and he was very good at this sort of thing but clearly, Stonewall really excelled at this — he truly understood the nature and capabilities of a Special Forces team.

As the now reunited convoy headed south on 71, the prospects of the IRGC successfully stopping them began to drop significantly. The Special Forces communication sergeants and the FAC(A) Warthog pilot found their stride again and functioned to perfection: Jericho Zero-Three and Zero-Eight identified their targets and Sun Devil Zero-Six apportioned the needed response. Archangel, following the convoy by aerial feed from an orbiting Reaper, was suitably impressed. By the time the convoy managed to cross the second bypass expressway, Jackson began to feel that they just might pull this off. When they crossed Highway 7, he knew they were home free.

“How you doin’?” Jackson asked Dani.

“Hurt like hell but I don’t think it’s going to be anything serious; breathing is much easier, as well. You’ve done that before, huh?”

“Yeah, a time or two. I left that needle in to fully evacuate any air in your chest so don’t make any sudden moves. It’s taped in so it’s not coming out but I don’t want it aggravating anything on the inside.”

“Yeah, I can kind of feel it. How are you doing, though? You took a couple rounds in the back too, didn’t you?”

“Think I’ve got a broken rib or two; my back’s pretty sore, but I’m fine.”

“How’s everyone else?”

“The medics have stabilized both Ben and Rossi. The pilot we rescued has a badly broken leg but she’ll be okay. Ferro’s a dynamite medic — I’ve actually seen him do some minor surgery before. We’ll be at the evac site in half an hour. They’ll have some medics on board but it’s going to be awhile before we can get both of them into surgery — Ferro thinks they’ll be okay but won’t know the full extent of their injuries until they can open them up. I’ll have him look at both the chest tube and that leg of yours once we get airborne.”

“I’ll be fine; you just make sure they take care of Ben and Rossi.”

Half an hour later, the little convoy approached an abandoned airfield. “Batman Zero-Six, Chaos Actual. We are approaching the Bat Cave and have you in sight. Be advised we have four wounded, two critical.” Jackson radioed the Ranger commanding officer guarding their hastily prepared airfield.

“Roger that, Chaos. The engines are revved up and ready to go. We can be airborne in thirty seconds after you get here. What’s the disposition of your guests?”

“They are a little surprised we managed to pull this off but they are all in good health. See you in a few.”

An hour and a half later, two C-130s touched down at Al Udeid Air Force Base, Qatar. Medical personnel had been notified and were standing by for the two critical patients. As soon as the plane reached its terminus, a team of paramedics raced on board and hauled both Ben and Rossi off into an ambulance to an awaiting OR staff who had been advised of their condition. Dani came next and, while her injuries were not as severe as her teammates, the medics hauled into the pre-op waiting room as both injuries needed a surgeon. Ferro had looked at her wounds and bandaged them up while en route to Al Udeid — as gun shots go, her thigh wound wasn’t anything too serious and he thought she’d recover from the collapsed lung relatively quickly.

“Did I hear you correctly back there?” Dani asked Stonewall. “We were in the middle of a major fire fight — I mean bullets and RPGs are flying everywhere — and you’re quoting Shakespeare?” Dani said looking at Stonewall in of state of utter disbelief.

“What? Who’s better than Shakespeare?”

“Oh, I don’t know, how about Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe: ‘Unleash Hell’—and it’s more to the point.”

“Maximus Decimus Meridius over Marc Antony in Julius Caesar? Are you kidding? Not a chance.”

“You really are something, you know that?” Dani said, with an admiring look at him.

“Jim,” Jackson spoke into his phone, “a C-17 with your three special passengers took off for Andrews a little while ago. They’ll be refueled inflight so they’ll be there sometime tomorrow. I’ll be heading back to Tel Aviv with Dani. I understand Dr. Bagheri is back in Tehran looking to form a new government after most of the Iranian government was killed in our airstrikes early this morning.”

“Excellent; the president will be extremely pleased. I got word on Dani’s family for you; they’re all fine. Dani’s condo, on the other hand, took a direct hit; it’s a total loss. How’s everyone doing? Understand you had a few casualties.”

“Awesome! Thanks for that; I’ll let her know. Ah, yeah, Ben, Dani’s CO, took three rounds, all three to the right shoulder though two of them were stopped by his vest. Still, his shoulder’s pretty messed up. Rossi took a round to the gut just below his vest. Both are in surgery right now. The A-10 pilot we picked up has a nasty broken leg — compound fracture below the knee. Ferro and the other team medic took great care of all three of them though they’re going to be out of the game for quite a while. Dani took a round in the thigh, through and through. Fortunately, it didn’t hit any major blood vessels. She also took two rounds — one to the shoulder and one in the back — that broke a couple ribs and collapsed one of her lungs. She’s banged up and broken ribs really hurt but she won’t be down for long. I’ve got a couple broken ribs myself, and, yeah, they hurt. I’ll be heading back to Tel Aviv with Dani on the next flight out of here.”

“Good. We want you back in Tel Aviv as I expect we might need you there to help with our liaison with both the Israelis and Dr. Bagheri. Your hotel made it through unscathed so you should be fine.”

“Roger that. I’ll do what I can.”

“Oh, I know that, Tom. Take good care of Dani; she sounds like an awesome girl. You know, I never did get a chance to meet her.”

“Well, we’ll have to correct that, won’t we?”

“That was Jim?” Dani asked as Jackson walked into her room.

“Yes, it was; your family’s fine.”

“Thank you,” she said quietly, looking at Jackson as if he had saved them himself.

“Your condo, on the other hand, took a direct hit, or so I’m told.”

“At least my family’s safe; everything else can be replaced.”

“How soon can we get out of here? It sounds like Jim wants me to stick around Tel Aviv for a while.”

“The docs put some type of valve in my chest to keep the lung inflated so they’ve cleared me to leave but I’m going to need some help getting dressed,” Dani told him as she sat up and let the sheet slip away from her, fully cognizant of the image she portrayed. Stonewall was completely surprised to see that all she had on was a pair of gym shorts that Rossi’s wife had picked up for her back at Fort Campbell a few days earlier.

“I know this isn’t the image you probably imagined before but right now I’m way too sore to care, or for that matter, too drugged up to care — I’m really sore,” Dani continued. “Don’t think I’ll be rockin’ a bikini any time soon,” she added with a painful smirk.

Jackson noticed that her right breast and shoulder up to the collarbone was one massive bruise with the flutter valve taped to her sternum. In addition, the nursing staff had completely bandaged her left thigh.

“Considering what we’ve all gone through in, what, the last eight hours, I think you look amazing.”

“Huh; you’re only saying that as I don’t have a top on. Hand me that T-shirt, would you? I’m not even going to try and put that sports bra on. By the way, how’re Ben and Rossi?”

“It looks like they’ll be okay. Ben’s days in the Unit might be over; his shoulder is really messed up. Rossi should be okay; that bullet did a lot of internal damage, bladder and I think he lost a kidney, so I’m thinking he’ll medically retire after this.”

“That’s good to hear about Rossi; I’m glad he’ll be okay, I really like him. Ben’s a fighter; if anyone can come back from this, he will. How’re you doing?”

“Ah, two broken ribs in the back; they’ll take some time to heal but I’ll be fine. I know it’s only been, what, a week, ten days or so, but, you know, I have this really cool hotel on the beach in Tel Aviv and, from what I hear, it’s a great place to spoil someone.”

Dani gingerly limped over to him, still holding the T-shirt in one hand, wrapped both arms around his neck, and gave Stonewall the most passionate kiss he’d ever remembered.

“I think that answers that question,” Jackson noted, briefly interrupting her kiss.

“Ouch!! Don’t squeeze me too hard….”