Chapter 2

As I moved from my rack and got showered all I could think of was the beauty and how one kiss had changed me. Brovo knocked and entered my room and informed me that we were on deck at 13:00 hours. I normally, before the Innocent Beauty entered my life would have snapped to, ready to slay the next evil, rise to the challenge of the operation handed to me. But all I could think of was her, I had to call her, to let her know. I knew it was against protocol to even mention being called to action, but I had to let her know. I called her and she was so elated to hear my voice, and then the disappointment that I had to cancel our date for that night. She ended our conversation with, return to me safely Angel for the world needs love too.

When I got to the War room and received the task, I was going through the motions. As a team we three fallen angels were close, what ever was going on with one would affect the others. So it was today, leaving the briefing Alpha pulled me aside and asked if I was ok. It was a first for me, I had never been questioned before. Being our lives and the lives of many others depended on us doing our jobs, I was honest with him and told him Love had crept in. I was conflicted, He told me that for him being married, Love was always with him even on the most heinous of missions. The slaying of the enemy and the destruction we’d wrought on those who fought back were a means of ensuring his Love would be there safe when he got back.

It was the reminder that what we do keeps the world safe, and even though we are the Fallen Angels that reap destruction and mayhem, we are part of the world that we defend. We are deserving of a life that isn’t only death from above, but Love and happiness on the Earth we protect. It was a conversation I had not expected from Alpha for he was The absolute tool of death on many of our missions. We all played our roles and had physical blood on our hands, but Alpha, was shooter, his finger ended more lives than Brovo and I together.

So with renewed faith in our heavenly mission from God we armored up and boarded the winged fortress that would deliver us to the battlefield. It was a long flight with several refuels along the way. We went over the mission parameters of Extraction, or snatch and grab as we called it. This target was not a friendly, not a hostage, but an asset of the enemy, that was wavering. We were tasked with liberating him from his brothers to exploit his intelligence. A secondary goal was to liberate any intelligence that may or may not be at the location.

The rear door slowly opened and we three Angels walked to the edge waiting for the go light, watching as the Earth below was a grainy blur at this height. The light came on and we took flight falling into the wind, riding her as a wave in the ocean, miles from where the winged fortress had released us. We glided mere feet from each other searching the ground for land marks like a hawk searching for his next meal. Brovo the spotter pointed us to a river which we recognized and in unison followed to our primary landing zone.

The landing zone was clear and we three Falling Angels swooped in landed as we had practiced so many times before. The equipment we needed was exactly where it was supposed to be and in 30 minutes we were at the perimeter of the encampment. The target was a smoker and was often identified on satellite as he smoked just outside the main tents. We watched the camp grow quiet and several people went to communal tents to sleep. Alpha took over watch, Brovo and I crawled to the edge of the scraggly bushes by the tents. We could hear the Muslim music from inside the tents and various voices, in a growling hush like Coyotes in the mid west.

Alpha came over the com and said possible target at your 2:00 O’clock. We looked to our right and saw the man strolling away from his tent. He walked 35 feet or so and he urinated. He looked around at the stars and then he lit a cigarette. As the light from his match lit his face, Alpha confirmed it was our target. We crept closer and with his back turned to us Brovo leaped up from the crawl and grabbed the targets mouth with one hand and tackled him to the ground. I rushed over and stuck him with a needle full a quick acting sedative. Within a minute he was unconscious and we carried him away safely. Once we were far enough away Brovo picked him up, fireman’s carry and removed him to Alphas’ position.

I waited until Brovo returned and pointed him to the Operations tent with the open flap. We could see there was only one person on duty, listening for radio chatter. Alpha updated us that the camp was still quiet, no visible threats. So we proceeded to the tent and as we got closer I could see the young man on duty was surfing porn on a lap top computer. He was so focused he didn’t even hear me enter the tent. One blow to the lower part of his skull and he was unconscious. Brovo stayed just inside the tent flap standing watch as I went about gathering the laptop, log book, and several maps. Brovo tied and gagged the young man as I worked and we scampered out like a possum with a stick of butter.