Page 36 of Indirect Attack
No one around the table said anything, but we all knew what her kidnapping meant—this entire thing was some kind of setup. No one, even the intelligence officers, understood for what purpose, but it fairly screamed at us. But there wasn’t much we could do about it, either. Even knowing it was a trap, I wasn’t going to let Jasmine remain captive until—if—we could come up with better intelligence or a plan.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have the time.
We spent the next few minutes planning our attack based on the limited information the intelligence team had gathered from their mission: locations, dimensions, and watch patterns. My entire body itched to find the action, to go, go,go, but it wouldn’t do any good to rush into the terrorist compound, guns blazing. We would all die swiftly, which wouldn’t do Jasmine any good.
Intelligence had managed to find the terrorists’ base a little more before the attack had driven them back, which meant they would be expecting an attack. This was less a surprise strike than a hastily-planned chess match—could we outmaneuver them in the dark enough to gain some kind of advantage? At least they didn’t knowwhenwe would be coming.
The drive out to the site was silent. My squad and I knew what was coming and the difficulties involved. More than that, we knew this could well be a desperate fight in which not all of us would come out alive.
When we were a mile out, we stopped the vehicles, slipping out into the dark of the night. After the rush and tumult of the base, and the noise of the engines, the still of the air was deafening.
But there was also a current on the breeze, a kind of charged calm that spoke of something waiting in the darkness—waitingand watching breathlessly for something to start—something big, something dangerous. It raised every hackle on the back of my neck, the tension palpable as my squad formed up around me.
Combat loomed on the horizon, a desperate fight that the terrorists wouldn’t give up easily. My three brothers had lived to come back with tales of struggles with these terrorists, but most who had come into contact with them hadn’t been so lucky.
“Rusev.”
Already on edge, the soft word by my shoulder startled me out of my thoughts. But it was only Mitchell, and he was holding the radio of one of the Humvees out toward me. I closed the distance between us and took the microphone, depressing the button to talk.
“This is Rusev, sir.”
“Hey, bro. I hear you’ve gotten yourself into a little bit of trouble and need my help.”
I had expected the base commander with last-minute instructions or information. But the voice on the other end was absolutely not my CO.
“What the hell are you doing out here, Herman?”
The last thing I’d expected was to hear my brother’s voice over the radio. Last I knew, he was on some air carrier in the Indian Ocean.
“Air cover to cover your ass, what else? You damn Marines can’t take care of yourselves without the Air Force storming in to help—you know that.”
“Screw you.” But I smiled despite myself, despite the situation, as I found comfort in the familiar banter.
“I hear Jasmine’s gotten herself into some trouble?”
My brother’s tone darkened slightly, a shift I could hear even through the crackling static of the radio.
“Yeah. But I’m going to bring her home. I swear it.”
There was a pause, then, “Make sure you do. Mom’s over at the Davises’ right now, and she told me she promised we’d bring Jasmine home. You’ll have Mom to answer to if you don’t.”
I’d have a lot more to answer to if I didn’t, but my older brother’s typical levity gave me slightly more optimism.
“I’ll bring her home,” I repeated, this time with more conviction.
“And you bring your ass home, too. I’m not going to be the one answering to Mom.”
I chuckled. “Just send Tri to do it.”
A grunt, or what I thought I heard as a grunt, and then my brother’s voice again, “Seriously, Ben. These guys are bad news. I’m leading air cover, and we’re ready and waiting to scramble. Keep yourself safe. You two both better come home.”
“I will. I promise.”
Both of us knew my promise didn’t mean much of anything—I would do everything I could, but at the end of the day, fate would decide whether I made it home on my own two feet or not. But I was going to do everything I could to survive for my squad, my family, and especially Jasmine. I hoped we had a life together ahead of us, but we both had to be there for it.
“Good luck.”
“You, too,” I answered, and then the line went silent.
