Chapter 3

Tonight was that time Jim had dreaded. The lives of his friends, his almost family at stake. Some might die, maybe not though, the kidnappers could not be expecting such a large response. He wanted to send a message so that it would never be repeated again. He also was afraid, he feared losing Gina when she saw what he really was like. He feared that Paul might already be dead. He feared that Mike might not understand why he had to take over, even though Paul was Mike's son not his.

It was just the way things worked. Lastly he was afraid of the ghosts, the faces of those that he lead who would die. Those faces that would haunt him the rest of his life. There was a consoling thought too, he would do all this for any of them. Marcia and Karl being there was un-expected. They chose to be here, to do this, to be with their friends. He could only wish no harm befell them tonight.

Even when 'units' or groups train for weeks even months, when it is time for 'live fire'; 'shit happens'. This night would not be much different.

With three distinct 'targets' Tony and Vito had been chosen to be 'in-charge' of the Italian 'family unit. It was to lead the specialized Russian team to the correct 'sanctions'. Jim never realized that there would be so many problems there. First, the Italians wanted to outdo the Russians, second, it seemed that several of the 'trusted' members had aspirations of their own and tried to 'eliminate' Vito and Tony.

When several of the Italians had been killed, Vito and Tony wisely called off the 'revenge', sent the Italians home, Vito going with them while Tony brought the Russians back.

It is strange perhaps how things work out. We would need that team, need them so badly that many more of us would have died that night without them there. We had been 'betrayed'.

The tunnel team had no problems. No one really had been informed in advance of that operation, not even the 'Seals' nor the 'Spetnaz' team. Mapping had been done by satellite then a UAV drone to identify the tunnel exit using thermal imaging to find 'warm' bodies during night. Mike's run was however. A run it almost ended up being, except for a few 'surprises' that had arrived later that night. one being Tony and his Russians.

By 23:00 we were in 'lockdown' and all communication had been 'blocked' in that area. I was informed just at 22:40 that more toys had arrived and the 'Seals' were going to be having an 'exercise' that night too. FOF IDs were being transmitted as we spoke.

I hoped they would not be necessary but, just in case, if the 'Code Hellfire' was used everything was to be 'put into play'.

I let the 'Spetnaz' know this. They were used to having their side try to kill them, I got a few laughs and one Commander, in halting English told me it was nothing new, these 'boys' had been in Afghanistan and more Russians had been 'KIA' those last few days by 'Hinds' than by the 'Taliban'. (The Mil Mi-24 (24, NATO reporting name: Hind) is a large helicopter gunship and attack helicopter and low-capacity troop transport with room for eight passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and operated since 1972 by the Soviet Air Force, its successors, and more than 30 other nations. In NATO circles, the export versions, Mi-25 and Mi-35, are denoted with a letter suffix as "Hind D" and "Hind E" respectively. Soviet pilots called the Mi-24 the "flying tank", (letayushchiy tank). More common unofficial nicknames were "Crocodile" ( Krokodil) due to the helicopter's camouflage scheme and "Glass" (Stakan) because of the flat glass plates which surround the cockpit of the Mi-24.)

The Taliban (Pashto: "students"), alternative spelling Taleban, is an Islamic fundamentalist political movement in Afghanistan. It spread into Afghanistan and formed a government, ruling as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from September 1996 until December 2001, with Kandahar as the capital. However, it gained diplomatic recognition from only three states: Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.

While in power, it enforced its strict interpretation of Sharia law, and leading Muslims have been highly critical of the Taliban's interpretations of Islamic law. The Taliban were condemned internationally for their brutal treatment of women. The majority of the Taliban are made up of Pashtun tribesmen.

Those that are 'involved' in various 'Special' assignments or 'OPS' often refer to the term 'Trust'. It is more important than Race, Creed or Nationality. "Trust' is earned, not given. Mike had equated 'Family' with trust, He had assumed every 'Italian' underling was worthy of trust and gave them his. It was not the best thing to do, as he later discovered. His assumption would cost all of us a very high price.

At 22:56 a clear 'ready' came over a speaker. It would be the very last thing spoken those next few hours. I gave Mike a nod. He, Vassily and two others got into the 'armoured' SUV (Armored cars are well known all over the world, thanks to their quality, exceptional ballistic performance and engineering) and we got several 'thumbs up'.

I held up a bottle of Vodka and saluted. Everyone had long been in position as Mike started to 'roll-out'.

Before he even arrived at the 'exchange point' a tank mine(An anti-tank mine, (abbreviated to "AT mine"), is a type of land mine designed to damage or destroy vehicles including tanks and armored fighting vehicles) went off; the SUV had stopped, heavy damage had crumpled the right front of the SUV but not even the windscreen had cracked. It was obvious that the money was not even a consideration. We had to assume Paul was already dead and Mike was who they wanted.

The 'Emergency' code generator was in my hand, I pushed the switch forward and waited while it seemed like WW III was happening. In a few minutes the 'Hellfire' code would take care of things. I no longer cared for those against us, the SUV was 'guaranteed' to be immune up to 50 km from a class A site for up to 90 minutes. It had cost nearly $2 million but it had saved the lives of those inside, I had hoped.

There was a steady stream of fire coming from my team. The "emergency" generator indicating to all that 'Plan B' was now in-effect. Gina, Marcia and Karl were by my side. I looked at them with tears in my eyes and said "I'm Sorry" and both girls started sobbing.

I heard the sounds overhead a few seconds after they flew overhead. A 'Red' light flashed then went steady on the code generator. No Friend ID had been found near the enemy. 'Hellfire' would begin in 30 seconds unless I called it off.