Page 101 of End of Days

“Yes, but our problem is we can’t launch it from here. We don’t know how. It’s too big to simply toss in the air, and its push motor doesn’t work on the ground. You see four of them here, but there used to be six. We wrecked them trying to get them in the air.”

Raphael said, “I know. It requires a rack to launch from. Did you not get any instructions with them?”

Embarrassed, track suit said, “No. They just gave them to us. It’s why you’re here. We know how to put in the coordinates and the weapon payload, but don’t know how to get it off the ground.”

Raphael laughed and said, “I understand. It has to have speed to gain altitude, but once it does, it’ll fly. That’s the easy part.” He glanced around the stall, seeing several steel latticework frames against the wall, lined up one after the other. He counted six, then said, “Did those come with the drones?”

“Yes. It was the scaffolding surrounding the frames for protection.”

Raphael couldn’t believe what he was hearing. These men were as dumb as a box of rocks. He said, “That’s not for protection of the drone. That’s the launch platform. You mount it in the bed of a truck, fire up the engine, then begin driving. Once you’ve built speed over the wings, you launch it in the air.”

Inside the vehicle, Tariq said to Leonardo, “We’ve done our duty. Pay us the rest of the money and we’ll be on our way. I don’t want to know what’s going on here.”

Leonardo said, “You’re not going anywhere.”

Tariq pulled out his sat phone, raised the antennae, and dialed a number, saying, “Yes, I am. I got you here, and that was the deal. I’ll need the rest of the cards now.”

Leonardo said, “We’re going to need help getting back to Beirut.”

“That wasn’t the agreement. I get you here, and I’m done.”

“Well, it’s the agreement now. If you want those other debit cards, you’ll wait.”

Tariq gave a sour look, and the phone connected. He said, “Package is delivered. I’m coming home.”

The man on the other end of the line said something, and Leonardo saw Tariq’s eyes squint. He said, “What do you mean?”

The man on the other end of the line said something else, and Tariq said, “I’ll be coming back soon.”

Leonardo waited for him to hang up, then said, “We can’t get out of here by ourselves. The agreement was here and back.”

Tariq laid the sat phone on the dash, the antennae still out and connected. He said, “That isnotwhat we agreed to. I have other endeavors in the works. I don’t have time to wait for you to play with these guys. You do what you want to do, but we’re leaving.”

Leonardo pulled up his pistol and said, “You’ll wait. At least for a little bit.”

The driver saw the pistol and reacted violently, turning around and attempting to grab it out of Leonardo’s hands. Leonardo broke the trigger, splattering the driver’s brain matter against the windshield.

The two men near the HiLux ducked, looking at the Land Cruiser. Tariq slammed his back against the door, holding his hands out, shouting, “No, no, no!”

Track suit whipped out a pistol, aiming it at Raphael’s head. “What was that?”

Raphael spread his hands wide, showing he had no weapon. He said, “I don’t know.”

Track suit said, “Tariq is valuable to us. He is a friend. You are not. Raise your hands.”

Raphael did so, saying, “I’m only here to help with the drones.”

Camouflage guy came to him, searching up and down his body. He pulled out a Glock 19, tossed it in the dirt, then nodded to track suit, who said, “Tell your partner to come out without a weapon. And to release Tariq.”

Raphael shouted at the SUV and Tariq exited, his hands in the air.

Track suit said, “What’s going on?”

Tariq said, “Nothing. Everything is fine.”

Track suit said, “Where is your driver?”

Panting, Tariq said, “In the car. In the car.”

---