"I kill men. I kill warriors. I do not kill innocents. The men doing this are not my brothers. That simple. Believe me or not, I will meet you here tomorrow at the same time. Enjoy the tea." Without another word, Christopher withdrew into the shadows between two tents. "Your weapons are behind you."
His withdrawal was covered by two of the camel thieves. The team withdrew in a collapsing tunnel formation as they headed further uphill in the sporadic darkness of the refugee camp.
**
Forty-five minutes later, Alexandra twitched as her Bowman radio receiver flickered out of its sleep mode. She stared at the data screen and the scrolling words. "Hooker One, 100 meters out. Ack."
She deployed the tiny keyboard and depressed the Ctl and R keys simultaneously. The system automatically generated her prepared response as she selected the "semi" setting on the sub machine gun's trigger group.
**
Two more key strokes notified London that she was ready to receive the "Hooker" party.
**
She slowly sank back onto the heel of her right boot as she adopted the classic kneeling firing position.
A deep breath with a slow release became her normal breathing pattern as she slowly swiveled the weapon to cover the door and louvered windows.
**
Outside, Christopher tapped his headphone as he waited for the signal from London to ensure that Alexandra had sent a confirming message.
"Hooker Zero. Proceed."
Two fist pumps told the camel thieves to begin a pepper pot advance up the street until Christopher reached the open staircase.
At the base of the stairs, Christopher held up five splayed fingers and started creeping up the staircase.
Five steps behind him, Mustapha followed while covering the surrounding tenements' windows.
Both men stayed in the shadows that blanketed the staircase.
At the door, he slowly turned the lock and pushed. "Don't bloody well shoot me, Inspector," he growled – casting all military protocol to one side.
"Observe protocol, Colonel," Alexandra hissed as she safed her weapon.
**
In less than three minutes, the six men entered the apartment and Christopher performed the introductions.
**
In the smaller room, Alexandra, Christopher and Mustapha sat on the blankets they had placed on the floor around a map of Quetta. The sole kerosene lamp cast an elongated shadow of Mustapha's head on the wall.
In the next room, the four Jordanian ex-paratroopers lit the kerosene stove and boiled two pots of water. From the crates of rations stacked against the wall under a tarpaulin, they retrieved several British Army ration packs and inspected the labels. After a perfunctory inspection, several boxes were discarded.
The men retrieved the drink pouches from the halal labeled rations.
"Orange."
"Lime."
Bottles of water were retrieved from under the tarpaulin and the flavor packers were quickly dissolved. The men separated into pairs as they savored the refreshing drinks.
YOU ARE READING
The Shaddad Conspiracy
Adventure“Your murder victim was not an innocent, naive woman. She was on our terrorist watch list. The fact that she escaped from Basra and lived a normal life in London buggers belief, but she was planted here by a foreign government to wreck the Taliban p...
Chapter 22: The other side
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