Jesus Christ, how many more of those crude and lethally effective machine guns do they have here?

  “Copy that, Guy. One of the men is carrying two Claymore mines in their pack. Check it out.”

  A new voice came on the commo.

  “This is Reynolds at the front of the house. I have the Claymores. You want me to bring them around back?”

  “If it’s quiet, leave a man there and tell him to call in the second anything moves. Yeah, bring the mines, Roy.”

  He clicked off, but ten seconds later, Rovere’s voice sounded in his earpiece.

  “Echo One, this is Echo Two. We have located Delta Six.”

  “Good. What’s their situation, Echo Two?”

  “We have six survivors, and they’re all in a bad way. They need an immediate medevac.”

  “Can they withstand exfiltration by road?”

  “Negative, Echo One. There’s no way.”

  Damn, the Somalis must have given them a bad time. There were fourteen men all told, now there are only six.

  He felt a surge of anger for the psychotic warlord who had ordered the torture of his fellow troops but squashed it as soon as it came. He had a war to fight, and the time for emotion would come later. The best memorial for the fallen would be to utterly destroy the African sadists responsible for their treatment. He looked up as Roy Reynolds ran into the house and unstrapped his pack. He took out the two Claymore mines.

  “You want me to arm these, Boss?”

  Talley nodded toward the open door leading to the basement. “We have to take out a machine gun that’s holding us up. We need them rigged as grenades, can you do that?”

  Reynolds’ forehead creased as he looked at the two mines and thought it through. The two devices looked almost innocent; the green cases stamped with the innocent looking words one side, ‘Front Toward Enemy’. They were anything but innocent, fitted with an explosive that fired a mass of steel balls into the kill zone. They were a unique weapon of war, both in the defense and on occasion, as now, of offense. Finally, he nodded.

  “Yep, I can trigger them remotely. If we toss them down there, I’ll hit the tit while they’re in the air. If we wait until they land, the Somalis may cut the wire. It’ll mean the ball bearings could go in any direction, but in my experience, these babies will ricochet around an enclosed area and turn anyone who gets in the way into mincemeat.”

  “That’s what I need, Roy. Do it.”

  Reynolds put his rifle down while he armed the Claymores. Talley called up Cate.

  “What’s the situation on those gunships? We’ve stirred up a hornets’ nest here. Once Barre’s people start to recover, we’re dead without them.”

  There was a short silence before she replied.

  “They’re not sending in the helos.”

  “They’re not what!”

  “Some order from NATO. I presume it was passed down from the UN.”

  “But that’s impossible! What about our casualties, the Delta Six troopers are in a bad way? Don’t they know we have to have helicopter support?”

  “Colonel Hakim says he knows, yes. And the commander of the Abraham Lincoln, Rear Admiral Alexander, he must know what’s going down. The politicians have said a flat no to any further incursions into the sovereign territory of Somalia, and their hands are tied. They’ve made it clear that any field commander who gives the order to send in aircraft will be court-martialed, and any pilot that overflies this country could be hauled up on a war crimes charge.”

  “So we’re on our own. They’ve effectively written us off.”

  “Yes. I don’t believe the UN expected us to get this far when they called in NATFOR. We caught them with their pants down.”

  “Well what the hell did they expect?”

  “A way they could wash their hands of the whole affair, and deny any responsibility or involvement in the outcome. The problem is the Somalis and their friends have made loud noises, and the politicians have listened.”

  “What about the UAVs?”

  “No chance. We’re on our own.”

  “Then we’re fucked,” Talley concluded to her.

  “Not quite. We have a secret weapon, Abe.”

  “Yeah, what’s that?”

  “You, I’ve seen your record. You never give up and always get your men home. I think it’s time you lived up to your own reputation, Lieutenant Talley. It’s time for you to fight. Really fight.”

  What the hell does she think I’ve been doing all this time?

  But she was right. He felt anger, and the stirrings of the iron determination that had carried him through seemingly hopeless missions behind the lines.

  I’m ready. Ready to take on anything they throw at me, and no way am I going to give anything less than one hundred and ten percent. And we’re going to win.

  “Sergeant Reynolds, those Claymores. Toss ‘em.”

  “Yes, Sir!”

  Chapter Nine

  It sounded like twin claps of thunder, yet the aftermath more as if the four horsemen of the apocalypse had ridden through that underground chamber. A dozen voices screamed in pain in their dying agony. When Reynolds threw the Claymores, the DP machine gun had just loaded a new magazine. The gunner discharged five shots before the lethal storm of steel fragments slashed around the basement, turning the gunners into bloody meat and offal. The big Sergeant didn’t stop. He picked up his SCAR assault rifle and ran into the maelstrom of smoke and death. As soon as he hit the bottom of the steps, he emptied his clip, reloaded, and ran into the ruined room. Talley ran after him, followed by Guy. Both men heard the two pistol shots and Roy’s shout of pain. When Talley reached the basement, Reynolds was down on the floor, clutching his leg. Blood was seeping from where he’d taken a hit. He shouted to his men waiting in the hallway and cast his gaze around the room. The main target was not there.

  “Medic, get someone down here fast. Roy’s hit, and he’s bleeding pretty bad.”

  Someone shouted that help was on its way. Talley could see the black trooper was in pain, and he knew the wound needed dressing fast. He looked down at Roy and smiled.

  “How do you feel, soldier?”

  “Like shit, Boss. Damn, I shouldn’t have run straight in here. I acted like a raw recruit.”

  “It was a risk worth taking. You nearly had him. Was it Barre who shot you? There’s no sign of his body.”

  “I think so, but I only caught a glimpse of him, the bastard. He seemed to be standing on that table. Then I lost sight of him when I fell. You mean he’s missing? That’s impossible. He was here a few moments ago.”

  “Don’t worry, we’ll find him.”

  He stayed with Roy while he watched Guy checking the bodies. There were fourteen corpses on the ground, shredded by the force of the two Claymore explosions. The SAS man looked disgusted.

  “He’s not here. Shit, we missed the bastard.”

  “That’s not possible, how could we have missed him?”

  “Check for an exit. There has to be one somewhere.”

  Guy nodded and started to conduct a search of the basement room. There were closets, filing cabinets, a couple of desks, and a number of chairs arranged around a large table. On the wall, he could see Barre had pinned up a huge map of the world with pins stuck in it. Probably a record of his illegal activities; the majority of the pins were in the African continent. The man would have found it easiest to prey on his own people.

  One of Talley’s men came down to treat Roy’s wound. He stood up to help Guy with the search. They drew a blank. The man had disappeared.

  “What was that old saying?” Talley murmured. “When you have eliminated the impossible whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.”

  Guy laughed. “That was Sherlock Holmes, I believe. But it seems there’s a degree of common sense in what he said. So what’s the improbable?”

  “You’ve checked the walls, and he didn’t go out that way. So he had to exit either up or down.”

  They both looked up and said in the same breath, “The ceiling!”

  Guy climbed on the table and inspected the light fitting. He put his hands on the large, glass ceiling fitting and wrenched. It dropped down and hung, held on a hinge. Above them, they could see a shaft leading upward to the surface, and wide enough for a man to climb. Clipped to the side of the shaft was the ladder he would have used to climb from the table into the tube. It was a simple matter to withdraw the ladder and close the light fitting, thus completing the disappearing act. Guy looked up into the shaft, but Barre had long gone. They’d missed him again.

  “He used his men as human shields to protect himself from the blast,” Guy snarled angrily. “He was on the table, starting to open up the shaft when Roy appeared. He shot him and then climbed out.”

  “So he’s back on the surface, which means we can be sure he’s rallying his men ready to counterattack. We’d better get back up there fast.”

  “We have another problem,” Guy reminded him, “exfiltration. Those bastards have abandoned us.”

  Talley nodded. “We’ll worry about that later. Right now, we have to kill Barre. That’s the primary mission target.”

  “Do we care, now that they’ve dropped us in the shit? As far as I’m concerned, they can stick their mission all the way up somewhere uncomfortable.”

  “I know that, Guy. But it’s not just a matter of completing the mission, although I don’t what to have come all this way for nothing. A lot of good men have died. There has to be a reason for those deaths. If we don’t kill Barre, he’ll come after us with everything he’s got. We’ll be fighting every step of the way to get out of here. The key to it all is Barre. He’s the head, and we must cut it off. We have to nail his ass.”

  Guy nodded. “Understood, in that case, let’s find him.”

  They men helped Roy up the stairs, and Talley checked in.

  “Rovere, what’s your situation?”

  “We’re holding at the garage building. There’re four SUVs for us to make our getaway to the coast. We’ll need something with off-road capability to get us through the jungle. A couple of them are Technicals, and they have heavy machine guns mounted on the truck beds. I heard the news on the helos.”

  “What about the Delta Six survivors?”

  “Not so good, but they’ll survive if we’re real careful. A helo medevac would have been better, but it doesn’t come down to a choice. It’s up to us.”

  “That’s right. General Barre is still on the loose, so keep your eyes skinned. He’s sure to be organizing some kind of nastiness, and I doubt it’ll be long in coming.”

  “You don’t think he’ll just try and get away?” Rovere asked.

  “No. There are still scattered units around the compound. If he can marshal them into a single fighting formation, he could still hit us hard. I estimate there could be as many as fifty men in hiding. If he manages to regroup, he’ll try hitting us.”

  “We’ll be careful.”

  “You do that. Vince, what’s the situation out back? We’re about to start coming out.”

  “Yeah, I was about to call you. There’s movement out here. I haven’t done anything about it, but groups of soldiers are moving towards a cluster of storerooms around a hundred meters away. I can’t see what’s going on there, they’re out the other side, but there’s a good few hostiles gathering. Maybe thirty or forty.”

  “Any sign of Barre?”

  “No.”

  “Copy that. He won’t be far away. We’ll go out the front way. Virgil, you out there?”

  “That’s an affirmative, Boss. All quiet and peaceful here.”

  “Okay, we’re coming out.”

  He clicked off the mic and nodded to Cate. “We’re going out now, any more word from Hakim?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing, I’m afraid. They won’t budge an inch. But I know the Colonel, and he’ll be doing his best. I’m sure he’ll come up with something to help us out.”

  There’s something wrong. Something doesn’t add up. Maybe there are too many Muslims involved, with too many unknown factors. Ismail Gul, the UN Commissioner, there’s a real question mark there. He’s the guy at the top. So why is he now putting every obstacle in the way of completing the mission? Where are his loyalties? General Mohammed Barre, at least there’s no doubt about where he stands, preferably in the sights of the Echo Six snipers. Jamal Osman, a proven traitor and I’ve killed him, but he was another high-ranking UN official. Colonel Hakim, running the operation from the Abraham Lincoln, and the link between the UN, NATO and Echo Six. But there have been leaks, for sure, too many leaks. The Somalis seemed to know what we were doing almost before we did. And since we uncovered the United Nations links to Somali piracy, things are going down the tubes at a rapid rate of knots. And Hakim’s promised air support has vanished. Hakim! I have some questions to ask that guy when we get out of here!

  He turned his attention back to Cate.

  “Yeah, he’ll need to. We have a heap of wounded men and several klicks of enemy territory to travel before we hit the beach. And General Barre will be doing his best to stop us. I suppose the boats will be there to take us off?”

  She nodded. “They’ll be there.”

  “Okay, it’s time to leave. We’re going out the front way.”

  “Do you want me to plant demolition charges?” Guy asked as they were leaving.

  “No, you may need them later. We have a lot of ground to cover. Ask me again when we locate General Barre, and then you can use them.”

  He smiled. “Copy that.”

  They emerged into the night and crossed over to the shelter of the trees where Virgil Kane was keeping watch. Almost immediately, several shots cracked out, and bullets whistled overhead as they ran. They were coming from the direction of the storerooms Vince DiMosta had observed. The final battle for the compound was about to begin.

  “You want me to return fire?” Virgil asked.

  “You may as well try and keep their heads down. We have to start preparing to pull out and head for the beach. Once we’ve dealt with Barre, that’s our priority. Rovere’s over at the garage with the Delta Six survivors. Cate, I want you to take command and lead the men over there to join him. Keep your heads down, and be ready to move out of here when we’ve finished. Guy, come with me.”

  Cate stared at him. “What’s going on? Where are you going?”

  Then it dawned on her. She watched Guy checking his magazines and going around the men to take their remaining grenades. “No! You’re going after him, just the two of you?”

  He touched her on the arm. “We have to. If we don’t get him, this is all for nothing. This just needs a couple of men. Anymore and he’ll see us coming.”

  “I’m ready,” Guy interrupted.

  “Okay. Cate, you have to take care of the squad. We’ll join you at the garage, and be ready to leave.”

  He stopped speaking as Vince came on the commo. “They’re closing the gates, Boss.”

  So Barre had already begun the fight back. The first stage was to contain the men of Echo Six. The second stage would be to kill them.

  “Copy that. Stay put, and keep your eye on things, but we won’t tackle the gates just yet. Take out any targets of opportunity, and if you haven’t heard anything in fifteen minutes, go to the garage. They’ll be preparing the breakout.”

  “Understood.”

  Talley looked around. Cate had given in to the inevitable and was handing out orders to get the men ready to move out. Jerry Ostrowski was covering the group, hunting for targets along with Virgil Kane. So far, the two men had managed keep the Somalis’ heads down and prevent them from pouring fire down on them.

  “Guy, let’s go.”

  They ran silently across a darkened area of the compound. There was a sudden break in the firing; no engines sounded, no men shouted, just the sound of the African jungle to intrude on the compound. They followed a diagonal path across the open ground until they reached a narrow, dried-out gully that had formerly carried water to irrigate the crops; in the days when the compound had been an agricultural facility. Before it became dedicated to drugs and death. They slid into the deep cover of the gully and surveyed the ground ahead of them. The gully led to a point near the first of the storerooms. Two Somalis were standing in the shadows, their AKMs held ready for instant use.

  “We can get close enough to them, so I suggest we use the pistols. With the suppressors, it’s the quietest way to take them out. Then we can move in and look for Barre.”

  “That sounds good. Let’s go.”

  They slid carefully forward, but Talley felt something slithering along his right arm and up his sleeve. In the green light of his night vision equipment, he could see it was another snake, long, and slim, and its body seemed to go on forever.

  Christ, this fucking country is full of the damn things.

  He froze. If he moved, it could strike instantly, and he had no way of knowing how poisonous the reptile was; which meant he had to assume the worst. Guy bumped into him and followed the direction of his gaze.

  “Wait,” he whispered.

  He couldn’t look but felt the movement of his partner as Guy got ready. There was a flash of movement, and he sensed rather than saw, the blade slash down and the snake dropped away in two halves.

  “Thanks,” he breathed.

  Guy nodded. “That was a black mamba. It’s one of Africa's most dangerous snakes. They’re not uncommon in East Africa. They can strike several times, and each bite delivers enough venom to kill ten men inside of an hour. Nasty things.”

  Talley took a deep breath and crawled on.

  They reached the nearest point to the two Somalis and took out their pistols. It wasn’t a long shot, but it was an important one. They had to shoot both men and make sure their shots not only hit them, but killed them before they could cry out.

  “You ready?” He looked at Guy.