The Mission

Chapter 6

Over the course of the last two weeks, everyone worked tirelessly around the clock to get ready for the first mission to smuggle the Jewish refugees out of Sudan. Ari made frequent trips to visit Kabede and check up on the refugees. Wanting to go with him to meet Kabede, Ari refused; it was way too dangerous for you, because you were a woman. As much as you protested, he wasn't budging from his decision; but deep down you understood. It was very risky for you and Rachel to be here.

The day of the first rescue mission, Ari and Jake were fixing up the trucks getting ready to go. You stood by Ari, handing him the tools he needed. Once Jake got the CB radio working, he was connected with the Navy ship.

"They're on," Jake announced from inside one of the trucks.

"Good," Ari responded, jumping off the side of his truck he was working on. He looked down at his watch, checking the time. "Leaving here in 12 minutes."

You and Ari made your way back into the hotel where Rachel was standing in front of the staff.

"What did you tell them?" Ari asked coming up behind her.

"That we are diving scouting spots and wouldn't be back until the morning."

"Good." The three of you were about to get ready for the mission, but there was what sounded like a very big vehicle coming towards the resort.

Heading outside, you all saw the large bus pulling in from down the road.

Ari turned to Max. "Up on the roof. Grab the spear gun." Max walked away, piling his sandwich into his mouth as you stood behind Ari. From what you had gathered, the five of them have had some sort of combat training, but you didn't. You would be utterly screwed if any kind of fight broke out.

The bus stopped right in front of the entrance and a bigger man came out of the bus, holding a clipboard with papers.

"This was not an easy place to find. You should think about getting some better signage," he said with a chuckle, dusting the sweat off his face with the back of his hand. "It's so hot in there, but with the windows open, all the dust flies in." He had a German accent and Rachel moved forward.

She was speaking German, but you understood each work precisely. "I'm not sure what you are looking for but I'm pretty sure this isn't it."

"Isn't this the Red Sea Diving Resort?" the man asked, looking up at the sign on the front of the resort.

"Well yes, but you see we are still under construction and won't be open for a long time," she replied.

"That's not what the brochure said," the man handed over a brightly colored brochure and Rachel glanced at it before handing it over to Ari. Peaking over his shoulder, you could see why tourists would actually want to come here; the brochure really caught your eyes.

The German man waved everyone off the bus and you retreated back into the hotel and into the room behind the front desk, knowing Ari and the rest of them would be joining you quickly.

You paced around the small room, trying to come up with a plan.

"We have to check them in," Ari stated as he marched into the room; everyone following behind him.

"No, I think we should send them in the direction of a real hotel," Sammy pipped up.

"Look, they were sent here by Colonel Madibbo and if they tell him what's going on, our whole cover story could be blown." Ari looked at his watch. "Fuck, we're already an hour late."

You stood up from the chair you were sitting on, ready to finally step in and do some sort of help since you hadn't been able to help much yet. "Let me check them in," you stated confidently. Ari looked to you, his brows raised. "Seriously. You guys get in the trucks and go get the refugees. And Rachel, you can head back to your room and get started on the communications aspect. I'll man the front desk and the staff and get everyone situated into their rooms. Tomorrow, when the first operation is successfully over, we will begin running a fully operated resort."

A slow smile crept up on Ari's face, making your heart skip a beat. He took two long strides over to you and picked you up into his arms; his hugs were the best. "You are amazing!" he beamed, placing a kiss to your forehead.

The four men headed out and Rachel went to her room to get her technology ready. Taking a deep breath, you put forth a smile and walked out into the lobby; standing behind the desk.

"How many rooms will you need?" you asked with a smile, folding your hands in front of you on the desk.

It took almost an hour, but all of the tourists were booked into rooms and resting before dinner. You went around, thanking all the staff, in Arabic, for their quick efforts of getting rooms in order for the guests. They told you they were just happy to have the resort open and running again as it gave them a job and something to do. You remembered Ari telling you at one point that when he leased out the hotel, he gave Colonel Madibbo an extra $100,000 for the residents of Sudan, but he made sure to tell Ari that it wouldn't go towards paying the staff. You made a mental note to ask Ari, since now there were actual paying tourists, to use some of that money to properly pay the staff at the hotel; they truly deserved it for all their hard work.

Watching over Chef Aziz, you praised his cooking skills. As he served the guests dinner, you snuck off into Rachel's room.

Knocking quietly on her door, you opened it before sneaking in quickly. Her room was more homey than yours as she had placed some personal touches here and there. There were photographs and small nicknacks placed around, which was something you wanted to do with your room now. Maybe it would help you sleep a bit better at night.

"How's everything going?" you asked quietly.

"I-I don't know right now. Ari called for radio silence a few minutes ago and I haven't heard anything yet from him."

Your heart sunk, dropping to the pit of your stomach as you held onto the edge of the bed for support. No, this couldn't be happening. The first operation couldn't be a fail. As much as you loved your quiet life back home, Rachel, Jake, Max and Sammy, along with the staff were starting to really grow on you; let alone Aria. The two of you had spent a lot of time together over the last two weeks preparing for the first operation. And you couldn't deny the fact that your feelings had grown for him too.

Rachel sunk to her knees, head in her hands as Base kept asking repeatedly if Yacht One would copy. Your knees gave out on you as you sunk to the floor beside her.

"Yacht one to base, we copy," Ari's voice came over the radio and you blew out the breath you didn't realizing you were holding.

You grabbed a hold of Rachel's hand, squeezing gently as she gave you a comforting smile. Now there was nothing to do but wait to hear back from them; to see if the operation was successful.

During the entire waiting period, you held onto Rachel's hand. Over the last two weeks, she became like a sister to you, which was soothing as you had always wanted a sibling.

"Base is on the way home, with the entire cargo. See you in a few days," a voice said over the radio and you had to control yourself from screaming in happiness. Both you and Rachel shot up to your feet, hugging each other before jumping up and down with joy; hands in the air.

The two of you waited in the confines of Rachel's room for the men to return back. It didn't take too muchlonger, as they were only a few miles down the coastline from where the resort was.

There was a knock on the door and Rachel went to open in. Standing on the other side was Ari, Sammy, Max and Jake; all with bright smiles. Rachel hugged Ari first before he came into the room. The minute his eyes landed on yours, you burst into tears of delight knowing the operation was a success. He made the few strides with his long legs to reach you, pulling you into a tight embrace as you sobbed into his chest.

"174 people we saved tonight," Ari whispered into your ear.

"That's amazing Ari. I want to help save them all. They don't deserve the war and famine they are going through, nobody does."

You couldn't help but to place your right hand on his head, your fingers weaving through his locks and scratching at his scalp, earning a low growl from him which turned you on like nothing had ever before.

"Now we can really celebrate!" Jake roared, causing Ari to pull away from you, but his hands stayed on you, placed at your hips.

Looking up into Ari's eyes, you smiled as his hand came up to wipe away your tears with his thumb. "C'mon, let's go get a drink and celebrate the success of the night."