“This cross country, as you call it, is in fact a wide valley, maybe twenty miles wide. There’s a range of mountains either side. At dawn, you will see them. It cannot be difficult for the Pasdaran to find you here. We are in a narrow strip of land.”

  “Do we have any choices? Is there another route?”

  “It is not an easy direction, but yes, there is another way. About fifty miles before Torbat Jam, there is a narrow track that runs over the mountains. If we can cross, there is a road that runs down into Bakharz. They will not be expecting us to go that way, and from Bakharz it should be possible to reach the border, provided we travel at night.”

  “How do we find this track?”

  “There is a tiny abandoned village. It has no name, and there are just five or six stone huts. You must head west and up into the mountains immediately after you reach the village. It is a long, hard climb, but with this vehicle, we should be able to make it.”

  Nolan thanked her and called Talley, explaining about the alternative route. The Lieutenant was dubious at first.

  “We’re making good time. If we stay on this route, we can hide out during the day and make a fast run over the border as soon as it gets dark.”

  “I reckon we should head for this village,” Nolan said. “We can decide on the target when we get there. We need to see how things look. Who knows, there could be a regiment of Iranian infantry camped there. Let’s take it as it comes. We’ll make the final decision when we know how things stand.”

  Talley nodded. “Okay you’re making sense, we’ll give it a try.”

  * * *

  The truck plowed on, and somehow Zeke managed to keep it upright as they constantly bumped and smashed into rocks and potholes. At one time, they had an anxious moment when they went into an irrigation ditch, but Zeke engaged six-wheel drive and was able to use the massive traction of the four rear wheels to pull them out. Still there was no sign of the enemy, and Nolan began to think they might even make it. But still…

  “Mitra, can you estimate how long until we reach this abandoned village?”

  “We should be there about now, Chief Nolan. When I looked out the back a few minutes ago, I saw an old shepherd’s hut that I think was about two miles outside the village.”

  “Okay, keep looking, I won’t want us to drive past it. We need…”

  And then the Iranians found them.

  “Aircraft coming in, looks like a fighter!” Vince shouted. “She’s at about five thousand feet and descending. I think they’re coming to check us out.”

  “I’ll take a look. Now might be a good time for Zeke to start looking for some cover.”

  Nolan used his own scope to search for the aircraft. And then he had it. He keyed his mic.

  “It’s a Sukhoi SU24, Boss. I don’t know what missiles he’s carrying, but they mount a GSh-6-23 cannon, a 23mm Gatling gun. That’s bad news for us.”

  “Copy that. We’ll have to do what we can. Maybe he doesn’t intend to shoot at us.”

  A raking burst of cannon fire hammered into the desert, fifty yards to the front of the truck. Zeke threw the wheel over in a desperate attempt to avoid the next burst. In the back, they could feel the jolting as the heavy rounds impacted into the ground.

  “Okay, he does intend to shoot at us. Hold tight, everyone, Zeke’s trying to zigzag. It he gets a hit with that cannon, we’re screwed.”

  Nolan and Merano tried to get a bead on the aircraft with their scopes. It was a forlorn hope. He was too fast and too tiny a target for a sniper rifle, and Nolan told Vince to hold his fire. As yet, they hadn’t taken any hostile action against the aircraft. Maybe that’s why he hadn’t used his missiles yet. Or maybe he was out for some target practice. Another burst of gunfire smashed into the ground; this time much closer. Zeke threw the wheel over, and the truck tilted on three wheels. Then he threw the wheel over again, and the truck tilted on the opposite side.

  “What’s the capacity of that cannon?” Vince shouted over the noise, the roar of the truck’s straining engine and the fighter’s twin Lyulka AL-21 turbojets.

  “I’m not certain, but I’d guess he’s carrying about five hundred rounds. God knows what missiles he has on board. If he launches an air to ground heat seeker, we’re in even worse trouble.”

  “You don’t think he’s about to run out of ammo,” Vince said drily.

  “No, I don’t. And they know where we are now, so they’ll have troop carrying helicopters on the way. We’ve run out of luck, Vince. All we can do is play this as it comes, and if we survive, try and head for the hills before his buddies arrive.”

  Talley’s voice came through his earpiece. “We’re up to this abandoned village, Chief. It looks like we don’t have a choice. We’re turning west and heading up into the mountains, if that Sukhoi lets us. Hold tight, turn coming up now.”

  Nolan shouted a warning just in time. Mitra held David tightly, and the Kraz went up on its side again. Three wheels left the ground as Zeke pulled it into a suicidal turn that almost overturned them. The wheels started to come down, and yet another burst of cannon fire raked the ground immediately in front of them, and exactly where they would have been if Zeke hadn’t changed course.

  “He’s getting good,” Vince noted.

  He spoke calmly, but Nolan recognized a message there. Unless they came up with something radical, the next burst or the one after that would shred the truck and everyone in it into little pieces.

  “Yeah, I reckon so. Where is he now?”

  Vince searched the skies with his night vision scope.

  “He’s looped around, about five miles back now. He’s coming in for another run, yeah. Christ, he’s dropped real low. I’d guess about five hundred feet. No, he’s going lower. He reckons to drop to almost ground level so he can’t miss.”

  Nolan rapidly sighted his rifle, picking up the onrushing fighter almost immediately. “If he can’t miss, maybe we can’t either,” he murmured. “This fight’s been too one-sided. It’s time to show this fucker who he’s playing with. Don’t shoot until he’s almost on us, Vince. We need to sucker punch him.”

  “It could be too late if he fires first.”

  “That’s true, but what if he’s low on ammo? Maybe this is his last chance to chalk us up as a victory on the side of his cockpit. He’ll come in low and slow, and only open fire when he’s almost on us. So we need to be patient, and let him get real close. Don’t fire until I call it.”

  “Copy that.”

  * * *

  It was as if time stood still for the two snipers in the back of the racing truck. They ceased to feel the bumps and jolts, didn’t hear the roar of the massive diesel engine, or the sound of the tires as they thumped over the terrain. It was their one and only chance. Nolan and Merano were amongst the best snipers in the world. They were using the finest armaments that Pentagon money could buy, and they were highly trained and very experienced. Yet it wasn’t enough, there was one more requirement, and both men possessed it. That almost superhuman ability to compute a hundred different factors, in little more than a second. To ignore the chaos, the panic and fear that surrounded them. Even their breathing shut down as their brains computed the factors needed for an accurate shot, and their muscles followed automatically. Their subconscious took over and afterwards; neither man could say how they made that particular shot. The aircraft raced in, near, and nearer. Lower, insanely low, the pilot was desperate for a kill. So desperate that he’d risk his life and his aircraft for one fleeing truck. He was barely fifty feet off the ground, his speed slowed to almost a stall, and still he came nearer. Until Nolan estimated he was two hundred yards off. He had to start shooting, or he’d overrun them.

  “Fire!”

  Both men pulled the trigger, and pulled again and again and again, until the firing pin clicked on an empty chamber. The clips were empty. One of the rounds, at least, hit the pilot. He must have been holding his stick, about to zoom up, over the truck and claw his way back into the sky after he’d destroyed them. A single round hammered out of the barrel of the Russian built Gatling gun before the aircraft abruptly soared up into the sky when the stick was dragged back hard. The Sukhoi continued going up, two thousand feet or more, and around, upside down, performing a full circle in the sky. And then it was coming down, straight down, arrowing into the rocks and sand beneath its elegant nose. It plowed into the ground several hundred yards away, exploding in a huge blossom of smoke and kerosene flames. They stared at the remains of the plane, once the proud, technological summit of Russian aviation engineering.

  “Christ, I don’t believe it,” Vince breathed. “We hit the fucker.”

  “Yeah, we did. But now they’ll be all over us.” He keyed his mic. “Boss, tell Zeke to get the pedal to the metal. We need to disappear, and fast.”

  He turned to look at David. The Israeli smiled.

  “That was good shooting.”

  “I reckon it was good luck,” Nolan smiled. But they both knew it was an impossible shot. Almost. “We’re heading up into the hills, so hold on tight. Mitra, he may need another shot. It’s going to get even more bumpy.”

  “I’m okay,” David interrupted. “I’ve got a wonderful nurse looking after me. She’s better than all the morphine in the world.”

  Mitra darted a look at Nolan. He nodded slightly.

  So that’s the way it is. Well, well, well. Is it a triumph for Muslim Israeli relations? Or maybe just the way of the world. A man and a woman, and to hell with the religion and everybody else!

  “Chief, the road’s blocked up ahead. We can’t get past. You’d better come and take a look. We’re fucked!”

  Chapter Ten

  Nolan shivered as he jumped down from the truck. The temperature in the early hours was already cold, and the wind whistling through the peaks made if feel as if they were in the arctic. Talley was standing by a rock fall. The track cut through a narrow pass, and several tons of rock had crumbled onto the roadway from the peaks, leaving a six-foot high barrier that would stop even a tracked vehicle from passing.

  “We can’t go back. They’ll be all over that valley we just left. And we can’t go forward. I reckon we may have to walk out.”

  “David wouldn’t make it, Boss. Neither would Mullah Kareem. And besides, we don’t have the supplies for an extended stay in country.”

  “I could blow it.”

  They looked around at Zeke, who was examining the rock fall minutely.

  “Blow it with what?” Talley asked him.

  “We have a few grenades left. I could rig them together and make a charge strong enough to blast this out of the way. We would need to clear a narrow tunnel for me to plant the charge deep into the rocks, but it should do it.”

  “And if the Iranians are looking in the right direction and see an explosion, they’d be all over us.”

  Zeke shrugged. “That may be so. I can’t guarantee what they’ll do. I’m only saying I can blow it. It’s up to you.”

  Talley looked at Nolan. “What do you think? It could be our only chance to keep going.”

  “We should do it. If we don’t, we’re fucked anyway. At least we’d have a chance.”

  Talley nodded at Zeke. “Go for it.”

  “I’ll prepare the charge. While I’m doing that, I need some of you guys to start clearing a narrow tunnel into the rocks. Six feet should be enough, and only make it high and wide enough to work in. I’ll go and round up some grenades. I’ll see what we can put together.”

  “I’ve got a couple of grenades in the back of the truck, Zeke. I’ll go grab them now. I guess we’d better make a start clearing that tunnel.”

  Nolan retrieved his pack and handed over the grenades. Vince had one grenade left. Will Bryce had two. The others were out.

  “I guess it’ll have to do. Yeah, I can make it work. Better dig that tunnel an extra couple of feet. This has to work first time.”

  Nolan nodded. “Will, we need to dig out the tunnel for the explosives. I reckon you and me should do it. There’s no room for more. Vince, keep watch on the road. Brad, you and Dave mount a patrol of the area. Make sure we’re not surprised. Dan, stay here and keep an eye on the civilians.”

  It was hard work, pulling at the icy, frozen blockage. Some rocks were impossibly jammed, and they had to resort to using the steel jack of the Kraz as a lever to ease them out. They pressed on, inch-by-inch, rock-by-rock. The tunnel had to be cleared wider than two feet, and some of the rocks were so big they rigged up the tow cable from the Kraz, looped it around the rock, and used the vehicle in six-wheel drive to drag them out. It took them an hour, but finally, their hands numb, freezing with the biting cold, it was done.

  “It’s all yours, Zeke. Make it a good one.”

  He grinned. “Don’t worry, I want to go home too.”

  They waited while he disappeared into the narrow tunnel. He finally re-emerged.

  “It’s done. I’ve set a five-minute time fuse. All I need to do as soon as we’re ready is crawl back in and set it.”

  Talley looked around. “Will, you’d better reverse the truck from there. Make sure everyone’s out of the danger zone. Zeke, as soon as the truck’s out of the way, blast it.”

  “You got it.”

  Will moved the truck, and they watched as Zeke crawled back in and a few seconds later back out of the tunnel. He walked back to them.

  “All set, she’ll blow in,” he checked his watch, “four minutes, and counting.”

  Talley nodded. Nolan looked around, using his sniper scope to see across the dark landscape. At first he saw nothing, but then there was movement down in the valley where they’d come from. A line of vehicles, about eight miles from their position, moving down the valley towards Torbat Jam. He made out six trucks and two tracked APCs.

  “If that blows now, they could see it,” he grimaced. “It’d be better if we stopped it until they’ve gone past.”

  Zeke checked the time. “We have a minute left. Anyone wants to commit suicide, they’re welcome, but there ain’t time to go forward into that hole and disarm the charge. No way.”

  “Okay, people, we’ll have to hope for the best,” Talley told them.

  “Ten seconds. I’d get your heads down,” Zeke said urgently. “It’ll be lumps of rock anytime now.”

  They ducked down and waited. The explosion was spectacular. A blast of smoke, flame and rocks that leapt into the air, spattering the ground around them with the debris. When the dust cleared, they ran forward. Brad shouted a whoop of joy.

  Christ, you did it, Zeke. We’re outta here.”

  The blast had cleared a narrow passage strewn with rocks and small boulders, but not enough to stop the six-wheel drive Kraz. Talley urged them all back on board, and Nolan was the last to climb over the tailgate. He used his riflescope once more to check out the enemy. One of the APCs had detached from the line of vehicles and was heading towards the track they had followed into the mountains, obviously investigating the blast.

  Zeke battled with the wheel as the big truck struggled over the broken rocks, but they finally made it through. The summit of the mountain lay a few hundred yards ahead, and Nolan peered out of the canvas side to view the route ahead. They had to follow the narrow trail through a saddle between two peaks in the mountain. Either side of them the sheer slopes fell away, sheets of ice and loose shale that ended in the valley below. He looked behind. There was no sign of the APC, but only because the angle of the mountainside prevented him from seeing it. He keyed his mic.

  “Boss, one of their APCs is on its way up here, one of the Boraghs.”

  There was silence. Then Talley came back to him, and he sounded tired. “Do you think they saw us?”

  “Probably, yes, but only at a distance. They’ll want to check us out. We could be smugglers, local traders, anyone. So they won’t send the whole pack after us, not until they confirm the target.”

  “Copy that. I’ll tell Zeke to put his foot down. We’re out of options.”

  The speed of the Kraz truck increased, and the bumping and lurching became worse. They crested the top of the saddle, and the hood came over and angled down as they began the descent into the next valley. Nolan held on grimly, wondering how the hell David Meir was faring with the violent motion of the truck. Vince was staring at the road behind them, waiting for the APC to crest the saddle. He stared at Bryce.

  “Will, the Boragh that’s coming up the mountain.”

  “Yeah, I heard. What about it?”

  “How do we take on an APC?”

  Will chuckled. “You’re shitting me, right? Short of a man portable missile, or maybe a heavy machine gun firing armor piercing rounds, there ain’t no way. An anti-tank mine would do it, if we had any mines. Short of that, Chief, you’re looking at an air strike. And air support ain’t something we have. Not since we used the satcom to guide the missiles in on Goldiz. Even if the brass would go for it, which is by no means certain, we can’t talk to them. So we’re fucked. Our best bet may be to abandon the vehicle and lose ourselves in these mountains.”

  Nolan grimaced. “Have you looked at the landscape lately? It’s not just us. We have people who’d die in these mountains.”

  Will nodded and made no reply. What was there to say? There was no way they could take on the Boragh. And then he thought of Meir and old Kareem. His daughter, the beautiful Persian girl Mitra.

  Shit, no way am I going to give it up to a bunch of fucking ragheads in a Soviet tin can.

  He felt his anger surge until it was an overwhelming rage. “No! No fucking way!”

  “Are you okay, Chief?”

  Vince Merano looked around anxiously, and he realized he’d shouted out loud.

  “I’m fine, Vince,” he grinned. A germ of an idea had just come to him. “Don’t worry. We’re gonna kick these fuckers right off this mountain.”

  “How? They’re riding in armor, or had you forgotten?”