Page 62 of Gryphon

That got his attention. It was unusual for Delta to be worrying about a security matter inside any base’s perimeter fence. Like SASR, their usual role lay out in the field—way out in the field. Anti-terrorism force projection behind enemy lines was their specialty, especially if the enemy was classified as an ally and the intrusion had to remain very low profile—like invisible.

He scanned the area again through his night-vision gear, then eased the position of the rifle against his chest. The gesture told her to move a step closer.

Talking to someone wearing NVGs when you weren’t threw most people, but no problem for her. The lower half of his face was covered by beard and the upper part with the four-scope L3Harris goggles—full-on cyborg. And lethal as shit.

Despite their tentative rapport, she was careful to keep her hands visible and still. She’d also turned enough that he’d be able to keep an eye on the knife sheathed along her thigh.

“What am I watching for out there?”

He stared at her in silence as the fuelie cycled down his truck’s pumps, rolled up the hose and grounding wire, pulled the wheel chocks, and drove off.

Now it was just the two of them standing out in the bitter night.

One more scan of the airport.

Holly felt his gaze lock on the plane’s door behind her. She turned, keeping her knife hip facing the Delta and shoved back her hood to see Tad half out of the doorway.

She made a brushing motion to herd him inside, to which he didn’t react.

In the pilot’s side window, Mike watched her. He shook his head.

At her or Tad?

He called out something that didn’t reach her but Tad must have heard. He ducked inside, had some conversation with Mike, finally withdrawing like a bear into his cavern. Tad hunkered in that middle seat facing the door where she’d been earlier. It allowed him to remain inside, but practically shout I’m watching you, buddy.

A direct threat to a Delta operator. Holly resisted the urge to step over and close the passenger door in his face. Had as much sense as a dog barking at a croc. There was a reason dogs weren’t allowed in Australian parks anywhere near water—crocs had learned fast that barking dog equaled easy meal.

Mike shook his head to himself, but continued to watch her through the window. Mike had never liked Tad Jobson. He was the one so damn good with people, maybe she needed to listen to that. Actually, it didn’t take much to see why. Never being a combat grunt, he had all the field instincts of a flyboy who was always back at base or on his ship at night—none.

Holly turned her back on both of them.

“He’s new,” she offered the silent Delta.

He twisted his rifle slightly, no more than a wrist flex, as if asking whether she wanted him to shoot Tad. The height of Delta humor.

“Nah, I’d be the one who’d have to clean it up. And the boss wouldn’t be happy with a hole in her pretty jet.”

“The boss?” His NVGs aimed over her shoulder toward the cockpit for a half second as he spoke for the first time.

“She’s not along. He’s her copilot.”

The two central tubes of his rig recentered on her face. The outer two, angled to either side like horns, would give him enough peripheral vision to watch the whole plane waiting behind her.

“Thought her copilot was a woman.”

Holly resisted stumbling back. Andi Wu. Of course, the Delta would have been fed all the information about their team. Apparently it was a little dated, or was it a test? “Not for a while now, and never in the jet. Whirly-girl pilot.”

“She rocked.”

Holly closed her eyes. She’d never escape Andi Wu, neither her deeds nor her misdeeds. Special Operations Forces—especially Delta Force and Seal Team Six—were the 160th SOAR’s primary customers. And Andi had been one of the Night Stalkers’ very best. That this guy knew her sucked in so many spectacular ways. It sure didn’t let her say aloud that the little bitch had betrayed the team eight months back. Didn’t let her forget about Mike’s insistence that she’d been preemptive in kicking Andi down the road.

“Low tech stuff.” He said in a different voice.

She looked at him again, or tried to but a blast of wind began beating her face with her own parka’s hood. He might actually be smiling by the time she wrestled it into submission.

“We started our inventory review at the top. Drones, drone controllers, heavy EM gear—all in place.”

No electro-magnetic weapons or systems missing from inventory here at Pápa Air Base.

---