Page 76 of Stand Fast

Nobody knew what the hell was happening, and Jaliya was about to lose her mind with worry.

Her palms sweated inside her gloves as she stared across the helo at Taggart while he desperately tried to make contact with FAST Bravo and the Afghan army officials tried to reach what was left of the NIU force on the ground. She’d passed on anything that might be of use to Taggart, but there was little he could do for his men at the moment. And she’d received word ten minutes ago that Barakat had died on the operating table, taking any remaining insider intel with him.

The blood roared in her ears along with the thump of the Blackhawk’s powerful rotors, muted by her headset. She was fighting to hold it together, her heart throbbing so hard it hurt. Her stomach was a massive knot of fear.

Zaid and his team were out there somewhere in the darkness, miles from the helo’s position, fighting for their lives. The last report they’d had from the team said that they’d chased Nasar through some kind of tunnel complex and managed to corner him, but then an unknown number of rogue NIU members had attacked as they were taking off in the helo. They’d taken serious small arms fire and the helo was badly damaged.

There were casualties, but she didn’t know who or even from which unit, let alone how bad the injuries were. Taggart had tried to get more details from the team but they’d lost radio contact along with the feed from Hamilton’s helmet cam a few minutes ago, as the team was boarding one of the choppers.

All Jaliya knew was that a combat search and rescue team were en route to FAST Bravo’s position right now, might even have arrived on scene already. The not knowing was killing her. Thewaitingwas killing her.

She wanted to go straight to Zaid’s location, but the closest she was allowed to get was the FOB. Another gunship had been deployed to their position to help clear off any remaining enemy force converging on the area, but it might already be too late.

She bit her lip and fought back the acidic sting of tears at the thought of Zaid being shot. She couldn’t lose him. And she wished with everything in her that she hadn’t turned away from the opportunity to have him when she’d had the chance.

Stupid.You are so stupid, and now he might be gone forever.She pressed her lips together and swallowed past the horrible restriction in her throat, the regret and fear all but suffocating her.

Across from her, Taggart suddenly straightened and adjusted the laptop screen, his gaze riveted to whatever was happening. After a few minutes he toggled the switch on his headset and spoke to her. “Live feed from the satellite shows a handful of remaining enemy scattering to the west.” He angled the laptop so she could see the infrared footage herself.

She scanned the scene, took in the dots moving around—and the ones that weren’t moving. There was no way for her to tell friend from foe. And there was no way for her to tell if Zaid was one of the motionless figures. “What about the casualties on board the helos?”

“CSAR was at the LZ, but they took heavy fire after takeoff. That’s all I know.” He went back to staring at the laptop.

Jaliya closed her eyes and prayed silently as the minutes ticked by, her throat so tight it felt like she was being strangled.He can’t be gone. He just can’t.

After what seemed like an eternity the pitch of the Blackhawk’s engines changed and they began to descend. The FOB appeared below them, a tiny blip of light in a sea of black. They dipped lower and went into a hover as they approached the base.

Finally the pilots landed inside the perimeter and began shut down procedures. Jaliya took off her headset, unbuckled her belt and followed Taggart out into the open.

Another team was waiting for them and rushed them inside the medium-sized cinderblock building into a room that acted as the TOC. A flurry of confusion followed, with the Afghan military officials crowding around, arguing amongst themselves, pointing fingers and shouting at one another.

“Jesus Christ,” Taggart growled. “Find out what they know about my team,” he said to her. “I need to keep trying to make contact with them.”

Without wasting a moment, Jaliya elbowed her way through the knot of arguing men and shouted to get their attention. “Stop!” They were so surprised that everyone stopped and stared at her and she didn’t dare give them the chance to begin arguing again. “What do you know about the American team?”

“This man’s traitors attacked them,” one colonel sneered.

The accused man’s cheeks went red. “My men are not traitors, but yours are!”

“Enough,” she yelled, thrusting a warning finger at both of them. She was ready to punch someone, and didn’t care if it got her ass fired. “Tell us what you know about the Americans.” They’d worry about the attackers later.

The colonel shot a venomous glare at his counterpart and crossed his arms over his chest. “I heard they captured Nasar.”

What? She whipped around to find Taggart. The instant she made eye contact he stood from where he’d been working to establish comms with the team. “They got Nasar.” She turned back to the colonel. “And? Are any of them wounded?”

The man shrugged. “I don’t know. All I know is that half our men turned on their brothers tonight, and I want every one of them hunted down like the traitorous dogs they are.”

More arguing broke out, and this time she didn’t bother trying to keep the peace. She hurried over to Taggart, who had a headset on and was being briefed by the FOB team who had been monitoring the situation. She caught the basics: the CSAR team was on its way to the FOB with the critically wounded.

Another helo was bringing in FAST Bravo…and two KIA.

Jaliya’s heart lurched as she stared at Taggart, who was trying to reach the second helo’s crew to get an update. But before he could, the soldier manning the radar pointed out the two Blackhawks. “They’ll be arriving in a few minutes,” he said.

Face grim, Taggart tossed aside his headset and headed for the door with Jaliya right behind him.

Together they stood out in the cold with the wind whipping at their clothing, and watched the eastern sky, not saying a word. Jaliya kept praying silently, begging for Zaid to be okay.

After an agonizing wait, she heard the faint thump of distant rotor blades. She craned her neck back to look toward the mountains rising into the midnight-blue sky. A black speck appeared, streaking toward them through the scattered clouds. Moments later, a second one appeared.

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