Chapter 1 #2
The low-ceilinged room was lit only by his night vision goggles.
He moved deeper into the building. So far, no resistance.
His team worked like one body, each an extension of the other.
He lowered his HK416, slid around the corner, then popped his weapon back into position and came to a halt.
The smell of sweat, copper, and something burnt invaded his senses.
Against the far wall, shackled to a steel pipe, five men sat slumped on the cold dirt floor, unmoving.
Echo Team. Had they arrived too late?
“Raven, Charlie One. Heat signatures?”
“Affirmative, Charlie One.”
Alive.
Liam closed his eyes for a second in relief. Time to get these men home. “Charlie Two, door. Charlie Three, Charlie Four, with me. Go!”
Rafe snapped into position to cover the door. Boone cleared the corners, while he and Dax hurried to Echo’s side. Dax dropped beside the nearest man and began cutting restraints.
Liam crouched beside a man whose face was bruised and beaten almost beyond recognition. “Carr, can you hear me?”
The man stirred. One swollen eye cracked open. “Liam?”
“Yeah,” he said. “You’re going home.”
Carr shifted and groaned. “Don’t… trust the gear. They were…listening.”
Liam cut his friend free and helped him to sit up. “We know. Raven found the breach.”
At Raven’s name, Carr lifted his gaze to Liam. “She’s the reason for the rescue?”
He nodded.
The creak of wood jerked Liam’s attention upward
“Movement above—” Raven warning cut short.
“Ceiling!” Boone shouted.
Gunmen dropped from above, firing before they hit the ground.
The room exploded into chaos.
Rafe opened fire, hitting one in the chest midair. Boone rolled behind a support beam and returned cover fire. Dax engaged, shielding the men of Echo as bullets shredded the dirt floor around them.
“Raven—we’re hot!”
“I’ve got multiple heat signatures directly above you now.” Raven rattled off the information. “They must have masked themselves. Get out of there!”
“No exit east. I need options.”
“You’ve got a corridor behind the north wall. It’s narrow but leads to an old service road. That’s your only way out.”
“Copy.” Liam propped Carr against the wall. “Sorry, man. Hang in there. We’re getting you out.” He switched to command mode. “Three, Four, grab two each and move. I’ll lay down cover. Two, drop smoke and watch our six. Our hands will be full.”
He raised his HK416, pulled the trigger, and swept fire in a tight arc toward the corridor.
Dax and Boone slung their rifles, and each hauled two Echo operators to their feet and half-carried them toward the hidden passage.
“Popping smoke!” Rafe chucked the canister toward the breach. White smoke billowed outward, eliminating the enemy’s visibility, giving Charlie Team the cover needed.
“Time to go.” Liam looped Carr’s arm over his shoulder. No time for concern about the man’s injuries.
Inside the tunnel, the groans of the rescued men echoed off the walls. Dax and Boone did their best to move at a rapid clip while being weighed down by two full-size soldiers each.
The opening came into view and none too soon.
“I’m taking lead. Charlie Two, continue covering our six.” Liam moved to the front. He supported Carr’s weight and lifted his rifle with his free hand. He eased through the doorway to the outside.
The desert opened into wind and darkness. The group put distance between themselves and the ambush party.
Liam ducked behind a jagged rock outcropping. Three of the four men Dax and Boone towed from the makeshift prison had begun to hold their own with little support. The fourth? He wasn’t doing so well, and neither was Carr.
“Raven, Charlie One.”
“Go ahead, Charlie One.”
“Hostiles?” Liam sucked in a breath and let it out slowly, regulating his pulse.
“Negative. You’re clear to the ridge. They didn’t expect you to live through the assault.”
“Noted. And Charlie Five?”
“On approach, waiting for my signal.”
“Tell him not to be late.”
A rare chuckle filtered across his comms. “Copy that.”
Liam leaned out from beneath the rocky ledge and eyed the ridge that led to their extraction point. Not a huge incline, but it wouldn’t be a walk in the park either. He glanced at the men struggling from injuries and prayed for strength—for all of them.
“Gentlemen, time to get out of the sandbox.” He supported Carr and pressed on to the landing zone.
The temperature continued to drop, and sand whipped against his face as they climbed. Xander better not mess around. One of the Echo guys collapsed halfway up, and without a word, Dax scooped him over his shoulder while holding the arm of another.
Ten more yards.
His heart slammed against his ribs as they reached the crest. Cold wind hit them like a wall. Liam lowered Carr gently onto the sand and looked him over—concussion, broken ribs, torn skin. But breathing.
Liam flattened on the ground and crawled to the ridge. He scanned the open terrain for movements.
No pursuit.
No gunfire.
Liam returned to his men and stared at the night sky. It was just stars above and a broken team scattered on the rocky hilltop. He closed his eyes. “Raven, we're clear.”
Silence.
He lifted his head. Where was she? “Raven?”
“I’m tracking your signals. Echo?” Raven’s concerned tone was evident.
“We got all five. They’re bad, but they’re breathing.”
A long pause, then, “Thank you, God.”
“Amen to that.” Liam stared across the horizon, where the first hint of light edged the black. His nerves twitched, wired, still ready for another round, but there was no more fight.
Only the fallout.
“Sending in X-Man. Extraction in three.”
Liam smiled at Raven’s use of Xander’s nickname. “Copy Charlie Five’s ETA.”
A hum buzzed just out of sight. Liam squinted, searching… There. “Get ready, boys, here comes our ride home.”
Xander landed the borrowed Sikorsky S-76D with finesse. The helicopter’s IR suppressors and muffled rotors would keep the bad guys from locating them. He hoped.
“Grab and go!” Liam helped Carr to his feet and into the helo while Dax, Boone, and Rafe took care of the others.
Once the door shut and his team had things under control, he hopped into the copilot’s seat.
Not that he knew anything about flying, but Charlie and Echo needed the extra space in the rear to spread out.
Xander pointed to the headset and lifted the chopper into the air. “Raven’s on this channel, and it’s scrambled. No one else will hear.”
“Raven, Charlie One. Loaded and on our way home.” He swiped a hand over his mouth and exhaled. “You saved them, Raven.”
“No, you did.” Her voice quieted. “I tried to save them weeks ago. And no one listened.”
“They’ll listen now.” They had to. US Special Forces were in danger due to the exposure of the new tech.
“No, Charlie One. They’ll cover it up, just like before. The prototype was repurposed. They hijacked the tech to monitor our own soldiers. They turned what was meant for protection into exposure.”
His gut churned.
“I’ve been digging. This wasn’t about Echo Team,” she continued. “It was about testing limits. Seeing how long they could manipulate the data without getting caught. You walked into a proof-of-concept.”
Liam shifted to look at the men behind him. All had headgear on. They’d heard every word said.
Carr stared at him and whispered into his mic, “We were just the test.”
Liam’s hands fisted. His gaze raked over Carr’s bruised and broken body, then turned and gazed at the sky in front of him. Pale light cracked through the black of night. “We have to stop them.”
“I will. You have my word.”
Raven’s promise twisted his gut at the danger she might bring to her doorstep. Yet at the same time, her promise gave him hope that justice would be served with emphasis on whoever betrayed the US Special Forces for profit.