Chapter 13

Lt. Tracy Parker stayed close to the far wall of the darkened passage and moved carefully and silently towards the location of the dormitories in Aziz's underground compound. The heat was still stifling; almost 100 degrees, over 80 percent humidity. Tracy's nude body glistened with sweat and grime in the occasional, dim patches of light in the passage as she gracefully and stealthily moved onward. On her back, she wore the lightweight submachine gun, the safety off, a full 51 round clip in place. In her hand, she held the 9 inch blade of her field knife. Her moist and dripping face was more beautiful in its dishabille; a lock of her chestnut hair lay moistly across one cheek; her bangs were in spiky disarray over her dark brows and alert, large green eyes. Her breasts were very full and tight from the adrenaline in her system; her nipples were hard and fully extended, dark pink underneath the coating of dirt from her crawl and ringed by small pink and goose-bumped areoles. All over her thin, taut body, the sweat continued to bead and run.

Tracy's plan was to avoid any confrontation. If she met a terrorist, she'd take him out quickly and quietly. If she met more resistance, she'd have to distract them by causing a bigger disturbance somewhere else. That's why she picked the route past the dormitories. Most of Aziz's terrorists were asleep at 0245. Those that weren't were in the communications room or outside in various positions on the island. The SD-5 had imaged all of this. And where the SD-4 had missed the presence of Aziz on the island, the SD-5 had clearly caught the image of a shapely, darker-skinned woman swimming naked in the cove outside of Aziz's warehouse 3 days prior to Tracy's arrival. That's why Aziz was a target. And, that's why Tracy knew where the bulk of Aziz's men would be at 0245.

"All right," Tracy thought, "I'm 20 ft. from the first dorm entrance." The first dorm was a 40' X 40' room with 2 doors. One lead back to the passage in which the beautiful, young, nude intruder lurked; the other lead into a common area. A dim light showed through the open door to the dorm. Inside, 11 terrorists -- 3 women and 8 men -- lay in individual cots, asleep. Some snored; one had left a small lamp on. A separate air system cooled the air inside to a more bearable 82 degrees. Tracy felt the cooler air brush past her dirty bare and sweaty feet as she got closer. And as she got closer, she sensed and then heard the deep sleep of the occupants inside. Now, slipping quickly past the door and to its other side, she was clear of the first obstacle. Behind her, her feet left wet prints in the dark. Ahead, 100 yds, the passage split -- to the left, the stairs up to the surface; to the right, a longer hall past a large chamber with a pool, and around to the other entrance to the room containing the bomb. That was Tracy's destination.

On Tracy's right, ahead 20 ft., was the entrance to the common room. The room was roughly 25' X 35'. Serving as a dining hall and recreation area for Aziz's men, it was probably deserted at this time of night, Tracy thought. Suddenly, a shadow filled the light softly glowing from the opened door to the room. Tracy stopped and quietly undid the cover flap of her pistol and readied her knife. Ahead of her she heard the sounds of someone yawning and stretching. It was a woman. "Damn it," Tracy thought to herself. "All I need now is one stupid insomniac." Tracy's mind prepared hoping the unseen woman would move away from the door and go back and lie down in one of the 2 dorms attached to the common room. Unfortunately, the figure's shadow drew larger against the wall opposite the door. Whoever it was, was coming out. Silently, Tracy pulled herself up and pressed her bare, perspiration soaked back and buttocks hard against the rough, rocky wall, trying to make herself as flat as possible by the door. She waited, the knife in her hand at the ready.

Leta skipped lightly and quickly down the stairs towards the underground passage. She was happy to be out of the stuffy communications room. And even though warmer underground, it was empty and she was alone. She hummed as she reached the final steps at the bottom.

Tracy heard no one else above the quiet pounding of her heart and the personal noises of the unseen body coming towards the door to the common room. Suddenly, the full figure of a tall, muscular blond appeared outside the doorway. Tracy was close enough to see the woman was dressed in a halter and shorts. She was barefoot and perspiration clung to the back of her neck, torso, arms, and legs. She was stretching again, arms high over her body; stretching and yawning as Tracy moved quickly behind her and sank the blade of her knife deeply into the blond terrorist's right armpit. The woman's yawn stopped short and became a strangled coughas the knife, buried to the hilt, sliced an artery and cut off blood to the rest of her body; the shock was immediate. The woman tried to turn her head back towards Tracy in a vain attempt to see the cause of her sudden pain. Tracy then forced her body up behind the woman's; her breasts pressed against the hard back of the blond. With a twist, Tracy withdrew the knife quickly; it made a slight sucking noise as it was drawn out of the body. Then, she drew it along the terrorist's throat. The body of the woman immediately stiffened and then relaxed, falling backwards against Tracy's naked body, gurgling sounds coming from her throat -- dead weight that Tracy caught and quietly helped down to a prone position. As she placed the now dead female terrorist's head on the rough floor of the passage. The blond's eye's were open, the expression on her pretty Scandinavian face one of surprise and shock. Tracy noted the soft, very blond hair -- cut short in a bob, the laugh-wrinkled gray-blue eyes, the small pointed nose and gaping mouth framed by full, dark lips. Tracy looked up. Surprised, she caught the sight of another smaller female figure come around the corner from the passage ahead. It appeared to Tracy that that woman was humming.

Leta stopped short. Ahead of her, in the dark, she could barely make out the figures of 2 bodies. One was lying down, the other, definitely a naked woman, was semi-standing and crouching over it. Leta slowly moved forward, and as she did, she instinctively moved her hand towards the pistol holstered on her right hip. Maybe it was Justine Loudon, Jamal's Western girlfriend, Leta thought. "Are you all right?" she asked softly, careful not to disturb the others sleeping in the dorms. "Hello? Hel-umph, ungph." Leta's words were caught short as 2 bullets silently struck her: one in the right breast and one in the abdomen, causing her to double over and fall on to her rear end. Leta sat, legs spread apart, and looked down at down at her torso. 1 small hole had appeared above the point where the halter stopped covering her right breast; the other opened in the middle of her stomach; each was distinct and trickled blood. "Am I shot?" she asked herself with a surprised, blank look as the shock gave way to pain as she drew a wet and bubbly breath. "Baba?" she whispered weakly as her vision became dark. She fell backwards, her head thudding against the hard floor.

Tracy held the firing position for a second longer; In her 2 hands, she aimed the SOU small handgun, a modified Glock, 7.62 mm, 16 hollow-point heads, with built-in silencer at the falling body. A small tail of smoke rose from the barrel. The figure at the end of the hall was prone; it didn't move. Satisfied, she took the first dead female by the arms and dragged the body into the deep shadows of the opposite wall, trailing thick, bloody skid marks in the rough concrete. Tracy resumed her position against the doorway wall. She peered quickly around the threshold; the room was empty. Moving past, she noted the 2nd dorm's door was closed. Free to move up to the second prone body, Tracy approached and looked. On the floor was the body of a girl. "She doesn't even have tits, yet." Tracy's mind exclaimed. "Jeez, I didn't come here to kill children." Leta's pretty face clearly showed pain but was still, eyes closed. Her body was motionless; there was no sign of life, no breathing.

Tracy's head was light. "Get a grip, Trace," she told herself. Grabbing the girl by her ankles, Tracy repeated the operation of the other and dragged Leta's still form into the dark shadows against the opposite wall. Then, in a crouch, she approached the split in the hall. Tracy looked to the left. A stairway upwards. To the right a long darkened passage. Tracy was preparing to move when she heard the confused, conversational sounds of several men inside opening the door to the 2nd dorm behind her.