Escaped: Fighting my way home
© Copyright 2009
Written by Banzai Ben and Amazing Anastasia
ben@banzaiben.com
Chapter 14 – Sunday 07
October – Monday 08 October
Afghanistan & NALTS –
Sunday Day Thirty-seven – Monday Day Thirty-eight
Jens slept like crap last
night, and because she didn’t sleep well, I didn't sleep well either. She
tossed, turned and moaned all night long. I was up before dawn, long before
anyone else. I slipped out of bed, pulled on my clothes, turned on my
flashlight, and gently woke Liz and the crew.
I whispered, "Get your
cameras and follow me."
Liz whispered back,
"What the hell are you going to do this time?"
"Follow me and find
out," I answered as I found my guitar and amp and went outside to the top
of our bunker.
I checked my watch - it was
about half an hour to sunrise and gave me just enough time to setup my
surprise. I wandered into the barracks, found all the amps I could and rousted
their owners. I told them my plan. They laughed and helped me haul all the amps
to the top of the bunker. When we hooked up the power, I wasn't sure that we
weren't going to blow a breaker. Then we daisy-chained all the inputs together.
I tuned up the Fender Strat
and plugged into the amps and waited… just as sunrise started, I pulled on my
ear protectors and waited. The other Marines nodded. When the morning call to
prayer started, I played the opening notes of The Star Spangled Banner - Jimi
Hendrix style.
The sound level was so
extreme it shook the whole top of the bunker and I could feel the notes vibrate
my guts! Even with the ear protection it still hurt my ears. The Marines in
front of the bunker plugged their ears and grinned. The whole base awakened!
Jens ripped out of the bunker and plugged her ears too. Marines poured out of
the barracks thinking they were under attack, but once they realized what was
happening they started clapping. The BCO and second ran up, plugged their ears
and were yelling at me - but I couldn't hear them. I finished the song, shut
things down and pulled off my ear protectors. All the Marines, except the
brass, started clapping and cheering.
The BCO said something to the
second and stormed away. The second came up to me, "SM Blaine, you have
ten minutes to be in the BCOs office!"
Jens ran up, "SM Blaine,
that was a hell-of-a-way to wake me up. You scared the crap out of me."
I handed her the guitar and
asked, "Sgt. Donaldson, will you pack this and the amps away for me? I
need to get my ass to the BCO's office."
"Do you think you're in
trouble?" She asked.
I looked at the brass
storming away and answered, "Oh yeah! I'm in big trouble this time."
Jens turned and yelled,
"Liz, I need you!"
Liz ran up, "What's
wrong?"
"SM Blaine's little
stunt has gotten him into trouble and we're going to the BCO's office together.
Can you take care of his guitar and amp?"
Liz looked at me, "It
was a great stunt and we caught all of it on video. I can only imagine how much
the brass was not impressed. Let's get someone else to take care
of things and I'll come along and see if I can smooth things over."
I looked out and saw Gunny
Horton, "Gunny, get your ass over here."
He runs up laughing, "SM
Blaine, that was a hell of a prank! I was wondering what you would pull this
time. What can I do for you?"
"It seems that the BCO
wasn't amused and wants me in his office in ten minutes. I need you to take
care of my guitar and the amps. This is my amp and the others are borrowed.
Their owner's will come and get them." I said as I handed him my guitar.
"Damn Banzai, won't you
ever learn. It seems like every time you're assigned to a new base you do some
prank that gets your ass in trouble." Gunny told me.
"I just want to make
sure they know I'm here."
"Well you'd better haul
ass. If you're late the BCO will chew your ass so bad that you won't have
anything left."
"He's going to have two
asses to chew because we're a team and I'm coming too." Jens said.
Gunny looked at Jens,
"Damn Banzai you're right - she's a real hellcat."
Jens grinned and I said to
her, "I think you're crazy Sgt. Donaldson. But if that's what you want to
do, then let's go."
We broke into a trot and headed
to the BCO's new office. I glanced over and saw Liz and one of the crew
following us. As we ran to meet with the BCO, the other Marines were still
clapping and cheering.
"That was fucking
awesome!"
"Way to go SM!"
"For once we didn't have
to listen to that mooslim crap."
We made it to the office with
time to spare and I leaned over and said to Jens before we walked in,
"Thanks for coming but this was my prank and this is my fight. Do me a big
favor and keep your mouth shut."
She whispered back, "I
love and live to serve you!"
We walked into the outer
office and taken right into the BCO's office. He was sitting down and the
second was standing beside him.
The BCO looked at Jens,
"Sgt. Donaldson, you were not part of this and you are excused."
"Sir! We are a team and
as a team if one of us is in trouble, both of us are in trouble." Jens
replied.
"Suit yourself. SM
Blaine, what the hell were you thinking you would accomplish with this stupid
stunt of yours! You woke up the whole damn base and offended all the Muslims in
the whole damn city. Do you know how many complaints we have already received?
That was one of the most idiotic stunts I've ever seen anyone pull. I would
have expected better behavior from you. So what do you have to say for
yourself?"
"Sir, I don't know what
I was thinking. Sir!" I answered.
"That's right! You
weren't fucking thinking were you?"
"No Sir! I was not
thinking. Sir!"
He looked at the second,
"Cpt. Kast you're dismissed."
Cpt. Kast left the room and
after the door closed the BCO said, "Shit Banzai and Sgt. Donaldson, sit
down. That was one hell of a stunt and while I have to reprimand you in public,
I can tell you I'm proud as hell of what you did."
"It's great to be under your
command again Colonel Rowe," I replied.
Jens was blinking her eyes as
if she couldn't believe what had just happened until I looked at her and said,
"Colonel Rowe and I go waaay back."
Colonel Rowe continued,
"I've know Banzai since he joined the Corps. And I knew he was going to
pull some sort of stunt - he always does."
"Excuse me Sir, but
isn’t SM Blaine in trouble?" Jens asked.
He laughed, "Well, I
will have to reprimand him and I guess you also since you're a team. But what
he did was great for the morale of the troops and he has my thanks for
that."
I looked at Colonel Rowe,
"So, office time1?"
1 Marine's equivalent to article 15.
He laughed, "Normally
you'd have a good dose of office time. But you lucked out because you two leave
on a mission tonight and you won't have the opportunity to serve office
time."
Colonel Rowe made a call on
the intercom and a spook and the Commanding General of the theater were
escorted into the office. Jens and I both snapped to attention.
The General said, "At
ease. This is Sam and he's going to brief you on your mission."
"Is this office
secure?" Sam asked.
Colonel Rowe looked at him
with distaste, "As secure as it can be. You can either brief them here or
forget about it."
Sam went on to tell us that
they needed some recon on an al-qaeda base located in an Arabic country that
wasn't our friend and didn't allow our military to operate within its borders.
They had satellite photos of the base, but couldn't prove enough with the
existing photos. We were supposed to reconnoiter the base and take pictures of
any high ranking officer we saw. They felt this base was the major training
base for the towel head troops attacking our soldiers. It was a damn important
mission.
Fuck! I hate spooks. I looked
at Sam and said, "What are the rules of engagement on this mission?"
Sam smiled and answered,
"You are to take pictures and that is all we are authorizing. However
should certain targets of opportunity appear, it wouldn't bother us if they
were dispatched." He slid a folder across the table to us. We opened the
folder and started looking at the pictures. I looked at Jens because we both
recognized all the pictures in the folder.
"I know you already have
an entrance plan, but I want to make sure that we have an exit plan. We're not
going on this mission until we're both sure we can get back out." I said.
The General cleared his
throat, "I will personally guarantee that unless you are captured, we will
do whatever it takes to get both of you out of the country."
"How about the ability
to resupply if we need it?" I questioned.
"It's too risky to run
flights in to resupply you two. You will be dropped in the country with all you
can carry and one pallet of supplies." The General said.
I didn't much like this
mission, and I said as I looked a Jens. "Sir, before we decide, I'd like a
chance to speak alone with Sgt. Donaldson for about five minutes."
They stood up and left the office,
"Well Jens, what do you think about this mission?"
She bit her lip, "It's
an important mission but it's dangerous as hell. I want to run some simulations
on my laptop before we decide."
"Why don't you run and
get your laptop and bring it back here. Then we can tell them what we need and
modify their plan so it will work." I answered.
Jens gave me a big hug and
said, "I'll be right back - entertain the brass while I'm gone."
Everyone walked back in and I
said, "Sgt. Donaldson would like to run some simulations of this mission
and needs to get her laptop. Does anyone have problems with her leaving to go
get it?"
Sam started complaining until
the general told him to shut the hell up and Jens took off to get the laptop.
We all sat down and the
general said, "That was a hell-of-a reveille you played for us this
morning."
"Thank you Sir. I don't
know what I was thinking when I did that stunt."
"I've read your service record
and I know exactly what you were thinking and I know that you planned this. So
cut the crap and let me tell you we all appreciate the morale boost you gave
the troops. And I've made sure none of this goes in either of your
records."
There was a knock on the door
and Jens came in with the laptop. She sat it up on the table and fired it up.
"I don't know if I trust
Sgt. Donaldson with running a simulation of this mission on a laptop." Sam
complained.
Jens looked at him,
"You're not military so that's Dr. Donaldson to you. I either get to run
the simulations on my laptop and refine your half-assed plan or we don't take
the mission and you can go find someone else to be your cannon fodder."
He shut up and everyone
watched as Jens entered all the parameters and ran the mission simulation. With
their plan, the mission failed over half the time and the computer was playing
the funeral dirge. Jens looked at Sam, "I thought so. This is a
half-baked, half-assed bogus piece of bullshit tactical plan. We die half the
time, and a fourth of the time we don’t even get into the country without dying
first. Are you trying to get us killed!" She was pissed off.
"Do you really trust
this computer to tell you if the mission will be a success or not?" Sam
asked.
"I sure as hell do! I
wrote this program for my doctoral thesis and it's way more accurate than
anything the military or you spooks have. I promised SM Blaine that we never go
on a mission unless the computer gives us a ninety percent success rate. Anything
else is suicide." Jens said.
"So this means you're
refusing the mission?" Sam continued.
"Hell no! If we refuse
this mission, you'll just take this piece of shit tactical plan and use it to
get others killed. Leave me the hell alone while I modify this shitty plan into
something that will work." Jens ordered.
I looked at the others,
"I think we need to go and get a cup of coffee and let Sgt. Donaldson do
some work."
"I'd like a cup of
coffee too, please." Jens requested.
The colonel had his aide
bring in a cup and a pot of coffee for Jens while we started to leave the room.
"Just remember we can't say anything about this mission outside of this
room,” Sam said.
I gave him a dirty look,
"I should kick your ass for even thinking we would be that stupid. You've
looked at my record and you know the missions I've been on - that's why you
chose us. We're not amateurs and we refuse to be treated as such." I
turned to the general, "If he says one more stupid thing I'd like your
permission to kick his ass and refuse the mission."
The general laughed,
"Sam, you'd better just keep your mouth shut or I'll let him do it."
We went over to the mess and
grabbed a cup of coffee. You should have seen the surprised look on everyone’s
faces when they saw all of us together. I was busy running lists of equipment
through my head so I didn't say much. Since I was hungry, I grabbed a plate of
food and continued with my planning while I ate. I finished and said to the
three, "I'm going to grab some chow for Sgt. Donaldson and then we should
head back over." I loaded up a plate, threw a cover on it and we walked
back to the BCO's office.
As we knocked and walked in,
Jens turned and smiled at me, "Thank you SM Blaine for bringing me some
food. I'm starving."
"So how did the
simulations go?" I asked.
She looked at us and said,
"I've got the success rate up to ninety-one percent."
"Good, let's see your
plan." Sam asked.
She gave him a dirty look,
"There's no way in hell that I'm letting you or anyone else not directly
necessary for the mission see this plan. I don't want anything to leak out. The
only thing I need from you is the camera equipment. General, we request that
Sam be isolated until we return from our mission."
He was going to complain when
the general put his hand on his shoulder and said, "Look, they're going to
take your mission and that's really all you need to know. I'll call some MPs to
escort you and the camera gear over to the ready room."
Jens looked at Colonel Rowe,
"Sir, no offense but I would prefer that you didn't know the details of
this mission either."
He laughed and said, "I
can take a hint." And then he left the room.
With everyone gone except for
the General and me, Jens outlined her plan and told the General what we needed
in the way of support from him. She then ran the scenario on her computer. The
General laughed when he heard the wedding march as the mission succeeded.
"Glen told me about you
two and I really didn't want to send you on this mission. But I figured that
with your smarts and Banzai's luck that you were the only two that could pull
this off. It's going to take some work to get everything that you need setup
but this mission is important enough that I'll personally make sure that you
get everything you need. Go to your bunker, grab your gear, and requisition
everything you need. Then get your asses to the ready room and stay there until
the mission starts. No talking to that news reporter of yours." The
general ordered.
We stood and shook hands,
"You two be careful and get us the information we need."
"Sir, we and my Father
will be counting on you to get us out when we call you." Jens said.
"We'll come and get you
when you call. Just don't get captured." He ordered.
We left the office and ran
into Liz talking to the BCO, "Hey where have you guys been. I've been
trying to get you out of trouble with Mike, I mean Colonel Rowe."
"We've been busy but we
can't tell you anything about it." Jens said.
Liz started to complain and I
grinned and said, "NALTS!"
We headed to the bunker and
Liz tagged along, "So you really can't tell me anything?"
Jens answered, "That's
right. All you need to know is we are going away for a while and we don't even
know how long. You'll have to entertain yourself here on the base."
I gave her an evil grin,
"Just don't use our cots for your orgies. I don't want to have to burn
them when we get back."
"I would never do
that!" Liz grumped and Jens and I both laughed.
We got to the bunker and I
looked a Liz and said, "You and the crew need to stop taping us and make
your selves scarce."
She didn't like it but she
did leave. Jens ran over, jumped into my arms and gave me a huge hug and kiss,
"Wow! There’s never a dull moment with you around and it looks like we're
going on our first mission together." We spent about five minutes getting
reacquainted and then I said, "We need to get moving, there's a bunch of
gear I think we'll need."
We started comparing notes
and came up with a list of equipment and supplies. I looked at Jens, "You
know we're only bringing enough supplies for a week. Any longer and we're
screwed."
She cuddled up close to me,
"If it lasts longer than a week we'll just have to live on love. Besides
you're getting a little fat and could stand to lose a few pounds."
"Look who's
talking!" I shot back and we ended up wrestling for a couple minutes.
We checked and double-checked
the gear from the bunker and headed out the door. Waiting outside for us was
our chariot - a Humvee and two MPs. "We're here to escort you to supply
and then the ready room," One of the MPs said. We humped the gear into the
Humvee, headed over to supply and told them what we wanted. The General was
there making sure we received everything without any hassles.
"The rest of your gear
will be here in two hours, it's being choppered in from Kabul." The
general told us. "Good luck and God speed." He shook our hands and
the MPs took us to the ready room.
Sam was in the ready room
when we got there and showed us the camera gear. Jens took one look at it and
said, "We're not taking your gear because we have our own gear which is
comparable. I can't trust that your gear hasn't been bugged."
Sam blew a gasket and said,
"Why you snotty little bit…" He never finished the last word because
I knocked his ass out.
"Damn! That felt good! I
never did like the little bastard." I said.
Since we were alone Jens came
over and gave me a hell-of-a kiss and squeezed my butt, "I love it when
you protect me."
I went to the door and yelled
for the MPs. "Call the General and tell him Sam had an accident and needs
to be kept in solitary until we get back." Ten minutes later they hauled
his ass off to the brig.
There was nothing to do but
wait, so Jens decided it was a great time to cuddle. We shared a bed and fell
asleep holding each other. We awakened when they brought dinner to us,
"Enjoy your last meal, after this it's MREs until we get back." Jens
smiled and prayed.
I even bowed my head and
silently said, "God I don't know you and I don't know how to do this. But
please keep my Jens safe on this mission."
I looked up and Jens was
smiling at me, she had sensed my feelings, "Thanks dear for praying for
me."
We finished the meal, cleaned
up, put on fresh clothes and continued cuddling until we heard the chopper
arrive. It was pitch black when we jumped up, grabbed our gear and headed out
the door. The general handed us the rest of the gear we requested, "We'll
be monitoring this continually for calls from you."
I checked and the gear pallet
was loaded aboard the chopper so we sat down and took the short ride to the
airport.
All the gear was loaded on
board a modified Boeing 727 and we took off. I looked at Jens, "I figure
we have about three hours flight time so I'm going to catch a nap."
"I think I will
too." Then we both fell asleep.
Two and a half hours later,
we were awakened. "Time for you two to get ready for your jump," the
crewmember said.
We geared up, put on the
chutes and headed to the back of the 727 near the rear exit.
Jens looked at me and said,
"I hope the ECM2 boys did their job, and the stealth fighters
took out the power grid in this area. Otherwise this is going to be a short
mission."
2 Electronic Counter Measures.
I was thinking the same thing
as I felt the 727 slow and saw the back stairs start to lower. The wind was
whipping around and blowing bits of crap out of the back of the plane.
The jumpmaster was watching us.
When the green light flashed, he dumped the cargo pallet. Jens went out next
and I was right behind her. We were coming in low and slow and had to deploy
our chutes immediately. I had on my NV and saw the cargo pallet floating down
below us and Jens was already chasing it down - I was right on her ass. I
looked back and saw the 727 booking it back in the direction it came from. We
were truly on our own.
The ground was coming up so I
dropped my rucksack, let it hit the ground, flared my chute and lightly touched
down. We quickly hid our chutes, opened the pallet and geared up. Then we
covered the pallet with a camo net.
I dropped us over five klicks
from the camp because if these guys were like the ones I'd fought at the base
they were pretty good and would probably have patrols and sentries. The base
was located in a very large and wide box canyon and we planned to get on a
ridge where we could keep an eye on things without revealing our position.
"Okay Jens, we need to
beat feet for about three clicks and then g-up (ghillie suite). We’ll crawl the
rest of the way. I want to be in position one hour before sunrise."
"Lead on Ben and I will
follow you."
We set off at a good lope
across the rough ground. Since there was just enough light from the waning moon
for us to see, we could make pretty good time without having to worry about
breaking an ankle. Jens was right behind me matching my pace step for step. We
were getting close to the g-spot when she grabbed my shoulder and pushed me
down. She fell right beside me. From her signing, I knew she saw a patrol with
two terrorists just ahead of us. Damn, I missed them completely! I pulled out
my NV and sure enough, there they were setting in a little depression as if
they were expecting us. I knew that if Jens hadn’t pushed me down, our mission
would now be over. We both g-upped and crawled towards our objective, leaving a
wide berth around the two fucking towel heads. When we were far enough away I
said, "What the fuck were they doing out in the middle of nowhere?"
"I don't know, but I
don't have a good feeling about this." Jens answered. I didn't have a good
feeling either.
It was going to be light soon
so we moved into a rocky area overlooking our target. Our ghillie suites
allowed us to pretend to be bushes. I took out my rifles and made sure they
were ready. Jens unpacked the camera gear and spotting scope from her pack and
set everything up. She reached into her pack and threw me a square of Hudson
Bay Bread, "Here's your breakfast for today."
"Thanks Jens, you always
take such good care of me."
Jens pulled the scrambled sat
phone out of her pack and made a call, "This is Bravo Juliet reporting, we
are in position and have eyes on the target." Then she killed the call.
We both lay down and started
watching the base. This was sure different than any Taliban base I'd ever seen.
This looked more like a secure factory. They had concertina wire and a fence
around the whole base, guard towers with machine guns and sentries walking the
perimeter. I was trying to determine if they were trying to keep people in or
out of the base.
"This place looks like a
fucking secure factory." I whispered to Jens.
"That's exactly what I
was thinking. I've never seen anything like this." She replied.
"Why don't you range me
on some targets so we will be ready if it’s needed?" I asked.
She looked through the
spotting scope and gave me some ranges, I checked them through the riflescope
and we were ready.
I was thankful it was fall because
we wouldn't bake quite as much in the ghillie suits and under the camo netting.
Jens was busy taking pictures of everything and said, "Ben, why don't you
take a nap while I keep an eye on things."
"Thanks, wake me in two
hours and I'll let you sleep," I said as I lay my head on my pack and
quickly fell asleep.
"Psst, Ben it's time to
wake up." Jens whispered.
I blinked my eyes and got
them used to the light, "Anything exciting happen yet?"
"Well, it definitely
isn't a factory. You should see these fricken bastards train, it's almost like
they're Marines," she said.
"Let's trade places and
you can nap while I watch." We rolled past each other and I copped a
little feel of her butt. "Hey, I'll give you about a hundred years to stop
that." Jens grinned.
"Sorry, I guess all this
waiting is getting me a little horny." I replied.
She put her head on the pack
and was out like a light - damn she was tired. I watched the camp with intense
interest. Jens was right they were training the hell out of these poor
bastards. I took a bunch more pictures, concentrating on the men in charge of
the training. Something didn't seem right about them. I cranked the zoom all
the way up on the camera and I understood why: Those bastards weren't
Arabic, they were Oriental. I took a bunch more pictures, trying to catch their
faces.
I looked over at Jens, she
was peacefully snoring and I decided to let her sleep longer. I wasn't tired
and this was fascinating. It looked to me like they combined the best of all
the services into the training on this base. I watched when one trainee must
have done something wrong. The trainer pulled his pistol and shot him. The
other trainees didn't even flinch and two of them drug him off.
I noticed some dust and
pointed the camera towards the motion. A convoy was approaching the base. I
started taking pictures as it stopped at the gate. The security was high and
they searched all vehicles, one by one, before they entered the base. I made
sure I documented all of it.
The motor pool was off to the
right of the gate but the trucks didn't stop there - they headed over to
another set of buildings. I followed them with the camera. When the trucks
stopped, the trainees ran over, started unloading crates, and hauled them into
some buildings. It was too far away to tell, but they looked like weapons.
After they unloaded the crates they went back to their intense training.
I took the aerial map of the
base and started making notations. I heard a siren sound and the next thing I
knew everyone hid and the base looked empty. I noted the time on the map and
figured that it must have been a satellite fly over. Thirty minutes later, they
were training again - this time it was a live fire obstacle course. I watched
as a couple of trainees failed the exercise and died for doing it.
Jens started yawning and
stretching, "Hey how long did you let me sleep."
I looked at my watch,
"Most of the day. You didn't sleep well the night before and I knew you
were tired."
"You doin’ okay?"
"Not bad. It's been
fascinating watching the training. I've seen them kill three men today. I could
use a break and some food." I replied.
"Okay, let me go take
care of a couple of things and then I'll whip us up some food and take
over." She crawled out the back of the net and around behind some rocks. A
few minutes later she was back, "Whew, I feel much better now."
She gauged the wind and said,
"Looks like no hot food tonight. The wind is blowing towards the camp and
they'd smell it if we heated it up." She threw me a PBJ MRE, "This is
about the best one to eat cold." Then she dug into hers.
I was hungry and it was
better than nothing so I wolfed it down. "You need to learn to eat slower
or you'll get sick some day." Jens chided.
"I wanted to get this
into my stomach before my mouth could taste it and complain."
I slipped out the back and
took care of some business, came back and put my head on the pack. "Wake
me when you get tired or if anything happens."
We alternated through the night
taking turns watching the base. Nothing much happened and it was boring as
hell. Early the next morning we were both awake.
I looked over at Jens,
"This is the worst part about being a sniper; waiting for something or
anything to happen."
"You could always recite
some poetry for me." Jens said.
I looked at her as if she was
crazy and I figured what the hell.
Out
through the fields and the woods
And over the walls I have wended;
I have climbed the hills of view
And looked at the world and descended;
I have come by the highway home,
And lo, it is ended.
The leaves are all dead on the ground,
Save those that the oak is keeping
To ravel them one by one
And let them go scraping and creeping
Out over the crusted snow,
When others are sleeping.
And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,
No longer blown hither and thither;
The last lone aster is gone;
The flowers of the witch-hazel wither;
The heart is still aching to seek,
But the feet question 'Whither?'
Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
Of a love or a season?
Jens looked at me and a
single tear went down her cheek, "Robert Frost, I should have known. I don't
know if I can listen to another one like that."
"Okay, see if you like
this one better." I thought for a moment and started.
Love
is enough: though the world be a-waning,
And the woods have no voice but the voice of complaining,
Though the skies be too dark for dim eyes to discover
The gold-cups and daisies fair blooming there under,
Though the hills be held shadows, and the sea a dark wonder,
And this day draw a veil over all deeds passed over,
Yet their hands shall not tremble, their feet shall not falter:
The void shall not weary, the fear shall not alter
These lips and these eyes of the loved and the lover.
She smiled at that one,
"I don't know the author but I like that one a lot!"
"It's William Morse and
I thought of it the first time I saw you." I answered.
"Hey! It looks like
something is finally going on. There's another convoy coming but this one is a
lot different," Jens said.
I rolled over, looked through
my scope and saw a bunch of Mercedes SUVs pulling up to the gate. I wasn't sure
what was going on but I was planning on being ready so I readied my XM-1093.
3 XM-109 is a semi-automatic twenty-five- millimeter
rifle that has a seventeen-point-six-inch long barrel and an overall length of
forty-six inches. It weighs in at forty-six pounds and has a five-round
magazine.
I cranked the BORS knob to
the estimated range and waited. Jens had slid over to her spotting scope. We
were both watching as the cars unloaded. Jens whispered, "Primary target
of opportunity sighted." She took a bunch of pictures.
"Range me Jens." I
said.
"Range
two-thousand-one-oh-five meters, wind five from fifteen steady."
I cranked the knob on the
BORS to the exact setting, did the windage calculations and lined up on the
target. I braced the 25mm cannon against my shoulder and squeezed the trigger
losing sight of the target as the rifle fired.
A few seconds later,
"Damn fine shooting, you blew him to hell."
I reacquired the next target
and fired again, sending him to hell. Jens was frantically snapping pictures.
By now they base had figured out something bad was happening and they all ran
or ducked for cover.
I decided to raise some more
hell, "Jens range the front of the Mercedes for me."
"Negative on that. Let's
see what this rifle will do and go after the C2CS4 building.
Aim at the generator at the back of the building. Range two-thousand-five three
meters, wind five from fifteen steady."
4 C2CS – Command and Control Communications System
She was right. We needed to cut
off their communications first. I made the adjustments, targeted
the generator, and fired.
"Son-of-a-bitch! Our
cannon blew it to hell and all the lights at the gate went out."
"Now the Mercedes,"
I heard her voice softly whisper, "First Mercedes two-thousand-oh-four
meters, wind five from fifteen steady."
I adjusted the BORS, put the
mildot on the engine compartment of the Mercedes took a breath let half out and
ticked the trigger. "Damn, you blew the hell out of the Mercedes. Second
Mercedes, two-thousand-ten meters, wind five from fifteen steady."
I scanned the first Mercedes
as I lined up on the second one it was a smoking wreck. I adjusted the BORS and
took out the next Mercedes.
"We have towel heads to
the far left coming around the building. Range two-thousand-twenty-nine meters,
wind five from fifteen steady." I jacked another five round mag into
the XM-109, adjusted the scope and swung around seeing them trying to get to a
gun placement. I took out two of them and the third ran back behind the
building.
"Ben that's looks like
an anti-aircraft gun - try to take it out. Range, two-thousand-fifteen meters,
wind five from fifteen steady."
I adjusted the BORS, took aim
at the AA gun and fired. "Good, it looks like you hit the receiver let's
hope it's disabled."
I took out the other three
Mercedes. "Target the above ground gas tanks range two-thousand-four-four
meters, wind five from fifteen steady."
Damn! This was a great target
and I wished that I'd thought of it. I cranked the BORS and found the tanks,
"Close or far one?" I asked.
"Close" Jens
replied.
I lined up the scope and
thought for a second, readjusted my shot and fired. "Damn! You went
through both tanks." I reacquired the tanks and could see fuel spilling
out of them.
"Let's take out the
trucks in the motor pool. Closest truck range, two-thousand-one-six meters,
wind five from fifteen steady." I acquired the target, blew it away and
walked down the line of trucks - blasting the hell out of all of them.
"Looks like we have
company," Jens said. "The fricken towel heads are getting brave and
have decided to try to charge us." I looked and a bunch of them were
headed towards the front gate. I'll range the first ones and then move over to
the 98 Bravo, once they reach fifteen hundred meters we can both fire. Range,
one-nine-oh-three meters, wind five from fifteen steady."
I adjusted the BORS and lined
up on one of them, waited until he turned and started running straight towards
us and fired. "Damn! They explode when you hit them with that." Jens
said.
I estimated the meters to the
next closest one adjusted the BORS and took him out. They finally got smart,
fell to the ground and started crawling towards us. They didn't realize we were
still high enough to target them so I made a couple of adjustments and took out
another towel head.
I heard the 98 Bravo bark and
looked over at Jens, "I guess they're close enough for this now."
At least we were too far away
for them to use RPGs. Jens yells, "There's so damn many of them." She
jacked another mag into the 98 Bravo.
She was right, they were
crazy and just kept coming, I was taking out the bastards that were far and
Jens was nailing them, as they were getting closer. "Jens we're going to
need to get out of here and come back later tonight. Start loading up your gear
and then cover me as I do the same." She threw everything in her pack and
slung it on her back then she started firing the Bravo again. I collected my
gear, slung the XM-109 over my shoulder and started using my Bravo. We both
jacked in a new mag. "After this mag we're leaving." I ordered.
Jens finished first and I
took two more shots, then we slipped down off the back of the hill and crawled
into a little arroyo with an overhanging bank. Once there we started to beat
feet, I wanted to get about four klicks away up into the hills and hide out
until tonight. After about three hours we made it into the hills and found a
nice cave to hole up in.
Damn it felt good to be out
of the ghillie suit and feel the fresh air again. We sat back in the cool dark
cave and laughed. Jens cooked up a couple of MREs while we were still laughing
and then we sat back to relax.
I looked over at Jens and
said, "Jens, that was some damn fine shooting out there today, I couldn't
have done better myself, and your ranging was spot on!"
She moved over beside me and
started cuddling, "Thanks my dear, you were incredible. How's your
shoulder after all those shots with the XM-109?"
I moved my arm, "It's fine."
She reached up, poked it and
I jumped, "Like hell it is, I can tell it's bruised and hurting you. Take
your shirt off."
I looked at her and she gave
me the you'd better listen to me look so I peeled my shirt off. She took a
flashlight and looked at my shoulder, "Whew that's a nasty looking
shoulder, let's see what we can do about that." She dug around in her pack
and came out with a couple pills, "Take these."
I opened my mouth to argue and
she popped them in my mouth and handed me a canteen. They tasted nasty so I
washed them right down. Then she took a little bag and poured some water in it
and banged on it some, "This is like an ice pack, put it on your
shoulder." I held it up to my shoulder and it felt much better.
It was still early afternoon
and I said, "Let's catch a few winks so we can be ready tonight."
One nice thing about the
ghillie suits is they made it comfortable to sleep on the ground. Before we went
to sleep, I went back down the arroyo that lead to the cave and setup a battery
of ten claymores as a perimeter warning. I didn't think they would find us, but
we really didn't hide our tracks when we came here. I knew I would sleep better
if someone did come knocking and Mr. Claymore answered the door. We both needed
to be awake and alert tonight for the plans I had.
When I got back, Jens had
made us a nice bed of the ghillie suits. She was sitting in the middle of it
and smiling, "Come on my big strong Marine, let's cuddle and fall
asleep." We lay down beside each other and Jens fell asleep first. I
thought how different this mission had been with Jens on it: She was the
best damn spotter and team member I'd ever had! I slowly drifted off to sleep.
I was having a bad dream
about being tortured and scorpions biting and stinging me when we were rudely
awakened by the sound of the claymores. I set them up so the one closest to us
would detonate all of them and that would make sure that we would kill as many
towel heads as possible.
We both quickly sat up, and I
looked out the mouth of the cave. "It's just getting dark and they must
have tracked us. Let's get the hell out of here."
We threw on our gear, slipped
up to the front of the cave and I peered out. The claymores must have worked
because I didn't see anyone. We headed the other way and I said, "We need
to loop back to the pallet and resupply for tonight." So we took off at an
easy lope and chewed up the kilometers to the pallet.
Jens started digging around
in the pallet and came out with a recoil shield, "Throw this on under your
shirt and see if it doesn’t help."
I walked over and kissed the
hell out of her, "Thanks for thinking of things that I never thought of
bringing. Do you have any more surprises stashed in the pallet?"
"I wanted to pack a
mortar, but we ran out of time. Now I'm kicking myself in the ass for not doing
that." Jens stomped her foot as she answered.
I had my shirt back on and
punched myself in the right shoulder a couple of times, "Thanks, I think
this will really help."
I pulled out the sat phone
and made a call, "Bravo Juliet reporting that two targets of opportunity
were confirmed today and neutralized. This mission is no longer covert and we
have confirmed and engaged the enemy." I turned off the phone.
"Ben, let's hit them
from the other side tonight." Jens suggested and it made sense to me. So
we took off jogging to the other side of the canyon.
The first patrol we saw was
about three clicks from the pallet. It was a small patrol of five men. Jens
scoped them for about fifteen minutes just to make sure it wasn't a trap -
sometimes these bastards can be sneaky but this was not one of those times. We
dropped and shouldered our Bravos and flipped on the NV scopes. Five
shots later, the patrol was history.
The Chinese had developed a
method of slow and excruciating torture thousands of years ago called 'death by
a thousand cuts.' Over the next few nights and days Jens and I were going to
inflict our version of this on the towel heads. You see, they made a huge
tactical mistake when they setup this base: It was surrounded by high hills on
three sides and the hills were about 1000 to 2000 meters away from the base. I
am sure it helped keep the wind and dust controlled for the base, but it was
just perfect for our needs.
Now comes the tricky part. We
are not fools and we knew the base probably had some fine shooters. We also
knew those snipers had to be deployed by now. The trick was to be able to get
into position to use the Barretts without being nailed by one of the towel head
snipers. We knew the snipers would expect us to be in the hills around the base
and they would probably be back further from the rim. So, we had to clear the
back hills one side at a time and not make a mistake doing it. We went back
even deeper in the hills and started a slow crawl towards the rim. We did have
a big advantage - the towel heads didn't have the IR blocking ghillie suits
yet. It would be easy to get on high ground and scope the snipers from their IR
signature. Once we hit the highest spot around, Jen started scoping. With the
night getting cold it didn't take long for her to scope the first towel head
sniper and his spotter.
"Range me Jens."
"Range 800 meters, wind 5
from 273 and gusting to 20" Shit this wasn't going to be easy with the
wind, I motioned for her that I was going to get closer so she should keep eyes
on the target and watch for anything else. We switched on our tac radios and I
started crawling down the hill to get closer to the targets. I was about half
way to the targets and was getting ready to shoot when I heard two zings and
matching moans to my left. Son-of-a-bitch, she had saved my ass.... again!
Through my tac radio I heard
her whisper in my ear, "Sorry about that Ben I didn't see them at first
because they were next to a rock outcropping that was still hot. I did get
suspicious when the first two targets I scoped didn't look quite right. They
moved too much to be snipers."
"Thanks Jens, you saved
my ass again." I pulled the 98 Bravo up flipped the NV scope on, found the
other two snipers and took them out.
"Jens, do you see
anything else?"
"It's finally clear
Ben."
Jens came down beside me and
we worked our way to the top of the hill and had a nice overview of the base at
about a thousand meters away. It was still pitch black.
I looked at Jens and said,
"Well, I think we have wasted enough time on this bullshit, it's time to
wreak havoc on the base." I pulled out the XM-109 and flipped on the NV
scope. Jens pulled out her spotting scope and Bravo and fired things up.
The NV on the scopes lit up
the base better than daylight and we could see the bastards moving around
trying to fix things. "I'll concentrate on the hardened targets and you
pick off the towel heads." I ordered.
Jens gave me a couple ranges
and I cranked the BORS to the distance, she did the same and we both started
firing. The recoil shield took the edge off the recoil - I owe Jens big-time
for that but I’ll have to thank her later. My first target was some big ground
mounted tank, I blew a hole in the bottom and something started leaking out.
Jens was doing a great job
picking off the rat bastards until they figured out we were attacking again and
went back in the buildings like rats crawling into their holes.
The trucks were destroyed,
the Mercedes were dead, the fuel was gone and the generator was blown to hell.
I was running out of hard targets and decided to start firing into the
buildings. Shit! I figured the twenty-five millimeter round should go right
through the walls and raise some hell inside. I started with the closest
building and fired the remaining four rounds into the building. It must have
done something because the bastards started running out the front door and Jens
picked them off. "Woo Hooo! Keep that up Ben, the rat bastards came out of
the building."
I jacked in a new mag,
"Jens, next target is the closest building where they stored the
weapons." I started firing randomly into the building and the fucking
towel heads started running out. Jens was waiting, and hit most of them as they
ran. I must have hit something good in the building because the next thing we
knew, the building was on fire and more bastards ran out. Jens was busy
shooting them as I jacked in another mag and waited for Jens.
She reloaded and I said,
"Next storage building." And we opened up a can of whoop ass on it.
She didn't get a chance to fire at anyone this time because the whole fucking
building exploded blowing the roof completely off and flattening the walls. She
did see some rat bastards looking out the windows of other buildings and
started firing at them.
I guess they figured that the
buildings weren't very safe so they might as well take their chances with us.
They started swarming out of the buildings and heading towards our position. I
switched over to my Bravo and we kept firing.
"It looks like we're going
to have to take off again. Let's empty this mag and get the hell out of
here." I told Jens.
We both finished and packed
up. Just when we were getting ready to leave we noticed a convoy heading
towards the base. "Jens cover me with one more mag and range that
convoy." She pulled her Bravo around, emptied a mag at various targets and
then pulled up her spotting scope. "Range two-thousand-five-hundred-four
wind four at fifteen." I cranked the BORS and adjusted for the windage as
Jens kept firing at the base. I fired and took out the lead vehicle's engine,
it abruptly stopped and a bunch of towel heads started bailing out the back. I
took out four more vehicles and said, "It looks like they have
reinforcements, we need to get out of here." I couldn't resist taking out
the last three vehicles, so I jacked in a new mag and did just that. Now they
were on foot.
"Let's get the fuck out
of here." I said and we both jumped up and started trotting directly away
from the base. We ran for about two hours and I said, "I think with their
reinforcements, we've done about all that we can do here. What do you
think?"
Jens didn't answer me.
"Jens, did you hear me?" I stopped.
She stopped a little ways
away, bent over and started throwing up. I ran over to her and grabbed her,
"Are you okay?"
We both slipped into a
sitting position, "Ben, I didn't want to tell you, but I think I'm really
sick. I've been puking for two days and the pain in my abdomen is severe."
I felt her forehead,
"Shit! I think you've got a fever too."
She puked one more time,
shivered and passed out.
I grabbed the sat phone out
of my pack and made a call, "Bravo Juliet here, we need emergency
extraction one team member is down." I gave them the rest of the details.
The General came on the phone and told me they'd come and get us ASAP.
I sat in the dark holding
Jens's limp body and praying to God that she would be okay and that they would
get here in time.
Afghanistan – Day Fourteen
I wake up, stretch, and yawn.
What time is it anyway? I curse Hussein for stealing my watch - some day I'm
going to take it off his limp, dead wrist. This is the first time I've slept
without interruption since we've started this traveling show and I feel great.
I roll out the back of the truck, Dragunov in hand, and hear Zarika call from
one hill and Yasmeen call from the other. I wave to both of them and go take
care of my immediate needs.
I walk back to the truck and
notice Zarika motioning for me to join her. I stretch a few more times and
start jogging up the hill to see what she wants.
"Ben, how are you
feeling?" Zarika asks.
"I feel great. It was
nice to sleep without being bothered. Has anything happened since I was
asleep?"
"We saw two large groups
of trucks go by. One went very slow like they were looking for something."
I don't like the sound of
that, "It's a good thing we hid our tracks very well. I think they were
looking for us."
I looked over and Yasmeen was
motioning for me, "I'm going to see what Yasmeen wants. When I get there,
will you go down and start cooking? I will send her down to help."
I ran down the slope, jogged
across the little canyon and ran up the other side. "Greetings Yasmeen,
how are you?"
She smiles at me, "I am
fine now that you are awake. After you were so tired last night, I worried all
day that you might be sick. It is good to see you. You look very well."
"Thank you. Today is the
best I've felt in a very long time. Can you tell me anything else about the
convoys?"
"One looked just like
the one with the blue circles on the door and was moving very fast. The other
moved very slowly and they had men on the roofs with binoculars."
"They were hunting for
us. We made many enemies when we destroyed the last convoy. Thank you for helping
hide the truck tracks so well."
She smiles, "I will go
help Zarika make dinner." Then she scooted down the hill.
I watched her and Zarika
greet each other with hugs and kisses on the cheeks. They really have become
sisters.
I sit under a scruffy bush
and scan the road for any signs of traffic but I don't see anything. I feel
anticipation welling in my soul. I know that soon we will be out of Afghanistan
and into Tajikistan. Once we are there the battles will be over and the three
of us can get to Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, the American embassy and
home!
I start to daydream and
Jens's face looks so real that I reach my hand out and try to touch it. I try
to stroke her golden hair and to see those lovely violet eyes and those sexy
smiling lips. I want to feel her embrace and share her passionate kisses. I
yearn to again share my bed with the only woman in the world for me.
How many months has it been?
I look down at myself - and how I have changed. I wonder about the changes in
her. It seems a lifetime ago since we were together – and I promise myself that
this time we will never be separated again. I decide it's time to end our
self-imposed celibacy and make her my wife.
Zarika's call snaps me back to
reality. Dinner is ready and I motion for her to bring it up to me. I watch her
and Yasmeen both coming up the hill.
"Ben, we decided we will
eat like the family we are tonight." Yasmeen says and hands me my food.
We all sit and this time when
the girls pray, I pray too. They both smile at me and Zarika says, "See
you can teach Ben some things."
That gets Yasmeen giggling,
"You can teach an old dog new tricks."
I smile at her,
"Yasmeen, I'm proud of you. You got the saying right."
The both laugh, "Ben we
practiced this so she would get it right." Zarika says.
Yasmeen stares at me,
"Ben, your eyes look different and I see a peace in your soul."
"I'm excited because we
are very close to Tajikistan. Once we are there the battles will stop. We will
stop by Zarika's village and then travel to Dushanbe and visit the American
embassy. Then we will all go to America."
That gets the girls excited
and they start chatting to each other - it reminded me of listening to a couple
of birds. "Ben, what if they will not let us into America?" Zarika
questions.
"I am sure that they
will." I tell them. Then to address their fears, we decide on a
contingency plan. They think the plan is good so they no longer worry.
Yasmeen says, "Ben I can
tell there is more that you are not telling us."
I look at them and decide I
don't want a war or a rebellion on my hands so I lie to them. "I'm just
very excited to think about going home and taking you two with me."
For once, a lie of mine works
and I dodge a major bullet for now. I'm sure I will have to address the problem
when we arrive in America. I reach in my shirt pocket, pull out a picture, and
hand it to them. "Ben, this is us at Mama and Papa's house. How did you
get it?"
"Ivan had an instant camera
and took it for me." Zarika looks at the picture.
"Oh yes, Basma told me
about the camera and how upset she was when Ivan took naughty pictures of her.
She tore up the pictures and made Ivan sleep on the couch for three
nights." Yasmeen giggles.
I chuckle to myself thinking
the old reprobate still hasn't changed. If I did that to Jens she would kick my
butt!
"Ben, is this how I
really look?" Zarika asks.
I realize that Zarika has
never seen herself in a picture, "Yes Zarika, that's how we all look. I
have two very young and pretty little sisters."
She scrunches up her face and
moves the picture closer and then further away. Finally, she says, "I like
how we look in this picture. I have never seen a picture of me before. It is
different from a mirror. I do think I look a little fat."
I know I need to handle this
carefully but Yasmeen beats me too it, "Basma says the camera makes
everybody look a little fat."
"Is that true Ben?"
"People in America say
that cameras make you look almost five kilos heavier." I answer.
"Then I think when I get
to America I will make a camera that is not broken like these," Zarika
states.
I stifle a laugh and say,
" I think that if either of you will be able to do anything you decide you
want to do."
We finish our dinner as the
sun sets. It paints the sky with beautiful pastel shades of reds, oranges,
yellows and blues – a truly spectacular sunset.
We rise and head down to the
truck. I pull the map out and memorize our route for the night while the girls
put the dishes and cookware away. The route looks easy, but I know that in
these countries looks can be deceptive. The girls walk up and I show them where
we are and where we have to go. Zarika gets very excited, "Ben tomorrow we
will be in Tajikistan!"
"Yes we will."
"Have you thought how we
will get a Chinese truck across the border?" Yasmeen asks.
We both look at her and my
mouth drops open - I have totally forgotten about that small detail. Zarika
stomps her foot, "She's right. They will not let us into Tajikistan with
this truck especially when they search it and find all the weapons. They will
think we are chewchemek terrorists."
I look at the map,
"Zarika, are there any places that we can cross the border where there
won’t be guards?"
"Papa and my brother
never could find such a place,” she replies.
"How many men will be at
the border?"
"Not many, only two or
three. Ben you can't kill them, they are my countrymen and then we will be
criminals." Zarika says.
"I will try to think of a
plan tonight while I'm driving. Let's get moving."
The girls make sure that the
supplies are loaded in the cab and we jump in and started to drive. They were
tired tonight and fell asleep without their usual bedtime lullaby.
My mind doesn't wander tonight
because I have a very real problem to deal with. I need to figure out how to
get across the border in this truck. It would have been easier with our old
truck because it was obviously not Chinese. Even if we took the red stars off
the side of the truck you could still tell where the truck came from. I run a
bunch of scenarios through my mind and come up with a couple that might work.
I’ll run them by Zarika tomorrow. I keep a close eye on the mirrors and the
road ahead - I do not want to run into the Taliban looking for us.
The night passes without
problems. It's been calm, too calm. We're almost to the stopping point for the
day and it hits me! I kick the truck out of gear and let it roll to a stop,
"Fuck me!" I mutter.
Zarika anxiously replies,
"Okay Ben!"
I look over at her,
"Zarika, that was just an expression."
She looks disappointed as she
says, "Oh, I thought you wanted me."
"You're my little sister
and I told you we can't do that."
She changes the subject,
"So we didn't run into trouble last night?"
"No, and I just figured
out why. The fucking Taliban aren't going to bother to look for us. They're
going to wait at the border for us to come to them."
She sits up and scratches her
head, "I think that you are right. What are we going to do?"
"The first thing we're
going to do is find a place to hide today and then have breakfast. I have some
ideas and I need to see what we have in the back of the truck."
Zarika pokes Yasmeen,
"Hey wake up you lazy butt. We need to find a place to hide."
Yasmeen yawns and sits right
up, "I feel good today. It is nice sleeping through the night. Where are
we?"
"We're about six klicks
from the border and we need to find a place to hide for today. I think that I
have a bunch of work to do on the truck." I answer.
"Why? Is the truck
broken?" She replies.
"No, but I think the
Taliban will be waiting for us at the border and the only way we will be able
to get through them is to fight. If we have to fight a big battle there are
some things I can do to this truck that will help us win."
"I want to send all the
chewchemek Taliban to hell to live with their god." Zarika proudly boasts.
"Well I'm sure that we
are going to do that to many of them. I just want to make sure that none of us
get hurt. Let's find a place to hide."
Yasmeen starts scanning the
area and says, "I think I see something over there." She points to a
little change in the hills.
"Let's go check it
out," I reply as we head in the direction she pointed. It was much further
than it appeared. Distances can be deceiving in this desolate place. We travel
about three klicks and find a very small and hidden canyon beside a very large
hill. I turn the truck around and back into the canyon.
I go back and help the girls
wipe out the tracks and then I set up three improvised claymores. The girls are
busy with breakfast as I pull out the map and figure out where we are. Zarika
brings me my food, "Ben where are we?"
"Thank you Zarika, we
are right here." I point on the map to Zarika.
"We are so close to
home!" Zarika excitedly says.
I point on the map to the top
of the hill, "And we can see what it looks like at the border if we climb
to the top of the hill."
Yasmeen overhears and the
girls start arguing about which one will come with me, "This time neither
of you are coming. I need you two to be ready to take off with the truck if you
hear any gunfire."
"But Ben, we will leave
you if we do that," Yasmeen complains.
"No arguments. I do not
plan on firing on them, but if they start shooting at me, they will know that
the truck is here and they will come after it. You will need to drive like the
wind to escape and I promise to keep the chewchemeks from following you. Then I
will come to find you. Don't forget about the booby traps. I plan on staying on
top of the hill for many hours so do not worry and do not come up."
I finish my breakfast, grab
some gear and head towards the top of the hill. It's long and steep and I have
to pause several times. I check the truck and the girls are both inside the cab
and wave to me. It takes about an hour to get about five hundred meters from
the top. I drop to the ground and start crawling the rest of the way so I will
not be seen.
I crest the top and
thankfully there are no chewchemeks to be found. I'm glad they haven't figured
out that I almost always use the hills. Hopefully, this will be the last time I
have to do this. I slip to the edge, park myself under a windblown shrub and
rub my face with dirt to take off the shine. I peek over the edge and my find
my concerns to be well founded. I count ten vehicles that have setup a road
block about one klick this side of the border. Counting the chewchemeks proves
to be too cumbersome so I give it up. The next two hours I spend watching them
and trying to figure out a plan. Finally I come up with something that might
just work so I slowly slip off the top of the hill and head back to the truck.
The girls see me coming and
jump out to meet me. "What did you see Ben." Zarika asks.
"I was right, there are
many chewchemeks and they are blocking the road. I think I know a way we can
make it into Tajikistan, but it will be dangerous."
"We will fight with you
Ben and we are not afraid. You have brought us this far and we trust you."
Yasmeen bravely says.
I hug both of them,
"This will not be easy, and we will need some luck."
"I will pray that God
gives us luck." Yasmeen continues.
"How will we get across
the border?" Zarika asks.
"You were right as there
are only three border guards. I think we will just drive right past them and
crash through the gate."
"But you won't kill them
right?"
"Yes Zarika, I promise
you that I will not kill them."
"I need to get some
sleep right now. Tonight we will modify the truck and get it ready. First thing
tomorrow, right at dawn, we will attack the chewchemeks."
"Ben that is wise
because they will have morning prayers and will be distracted." Yasmeen
says.
"You're right and that's
why we're waiting until then. You two go stand guard, but do not go very far up
the hill. Be sure to keep an eye on the top of the hill so they can't send any
chewchemeks over the top. I'm going to get some sleep."
They took off and when I saw
they were in position I crawled into the back of the truck and fell asleep.