As the CH-46 clattered its way over the jungle and ridges back toward Davao, Murdock began to work up his after-action report for Colonel Alvarez. He still wasn’t certain about the man. He wasn’t Muslim, so how could he have any connection with the rebels? He might have spent a lot of his time in this Muslim province, but he was most likely Catholic. There would be no report about Lieutenant Juan Ejercito and Lam being left behind to do advanced recon work. Not a word about that. There had been no sign of the hostages in the large village. Where could the rebels be keeping them?
The briefing was a total surprise for the colonel, and he couldn’t contain his shock.
“You say you captured the one small village, but there were only three rebels there?”
“That’s right, Colonel. We questioned the survivor and he told us about another village only ten miles upstream.”
“Yes, good. Now we know where another one is. We’ll have to plan to hit that one. Maybe the hostages are there.”
“They aren’t, Colonel. We hit that village this afternoon.”
Murdock and DeWitt gave him the report on the attack on the large settlement.
The colonel began to sweat. He mopped his forehead and scowled. “So, you attacked the village and think that you killed thirty of the rebels. Yes, good news. I’ll relay that on to the President. He’s interested in this hostage situation. Says it makes our whole nation look bad.” The colonel fiddled with an unlit cigar that he had been holding.
“This brings up a chain-of-command problem, Commander,” he said. “We follow the chain strictly here in the Philippines. No subordinate takes independent action. All operations must be cleared by my office or by me personally. This is to maintain a balance in the operation and to be sure that you don’t attack villages full of innocent civilians.”
“Yes, sir. I understand. However, in the field, there must be a certain amount of flexibility in any army or fighting force. When a target of opportunity presents itself, there is no time to call back to headquarters for permission to attack.”
The colonel smiled. Murdock figured he knew he was in command here and held all the trump cards. “I can see your point, Commander. However, in this situation you’re in a sovereign nation, and you must be guided by our rules and laws. I’m sure your senior officers would agree with that.”
“Understood. We’ll make every effort to plan our operations with your guidance and intel about the rebels.”
There was a commotion at the door; then it opened and a man in civilian clothes backed in talking to someone in the other room. He turned around, and Murdock grinned.
“Hey, Murdock and DeWitt. Hi, you guys.” Don Stroh, their CIA contact, turned to the colonel. “You must be Colonel Alvarez. Heard about you. Tough assignment out here in the boonies with all these Muslims shooting up the place. But we have the help that you need. Sorry I’m late, men, but I had a holdup in Manila. I still don’t know why. Some kind of official intelligence agency problem. But now I’m here to get to work.”
“Colonel Alvarez, I’d like to introduce you to CIA Agent Don Stroh,” Murdock said. “He’s our control and advisor and contact with the CIA director, the Chief of Naval Operations, and the President of the United States.”
Colonel Alvarez nodded and after a pause, reached out and took Stroh’s hand.
“Welcome to my country, Mr. Stroh. We’re just getting started on this operation. Looks like it could take a while.”
“Colonel, with the SEALs on board, the whole thing could come to a head faster than you could hope for.”
“We were just finished with our briefing after today’s set-to, Stroh,” Murdock said. “Could I buy you a cup of coffee and get you up to date?”
“Sounds good. The officers club looked interesting.”
They were dismissed by the colonel and headed for the club. Murdock derailed them back to the SEAL quarters.
“Stroh, this place seems to be so full of leaks it would make a sieve jealous. My guess is that the rebels know everything we’re going to do, as soon as we get it planned out. We’re not too sure about the colonel. I’m not saying he’s feeding us to the rebels, but he sent us on two missions. The first one showed us a deserted village and two hung spies with messages. The second one we found three rebels.”
He told Don the rest of the story, and Stroh was surprised by the colonel’s reaction.
“You sure he wasn’t mad that he wasn’t in on the hit? That he couldn’t take any of the credit? Some top brass get feeling hurt that way. Might be worse over here.”
“So, anything new on the hostages?” DeWitt asked.
“Figured you’d know. Two Dutch hostages were ransomed out this morning. Some of the other countries are caving in. We think there are still about fifty-five hostages.”
“If there is a problem with Alvarez, is there a general somewhere we can appeal to for cooperation?” Murdock asked. “We need the choppers for our attacks. Alvarez authorizes them.”
“I’ll see what I can find out. Must be a general out here somewhere. Anybody hurt?”
“DeWitt picked up an in-and-out in his arm couple of weeks ago, but nothing else.”
They entered the SEALs building, and found the men had finished cleaning and oiling their weapons and had all their gear ready for another attack.
Inside the big room a voice cranked up.
“Well, if it isn’t the D.C. society set’s favorite boy toy, Don Stroh,” Jaybird cracked.
Stroh grinned. “Jaybird, those ladies really know how to take good care of a guy. Not that I’m bragging, but would you believe eight times in one night?”
“Wouldn’t believe two, Stroh,” Ching yelped, and everyone cheered.
“Good to see you guys in such good spirits,” Stroh said. “This one could get ugly. The President wants those American hostages back yesterday.”
“We’re working at it.”
“Where’s Lam? He off his feed?”
Murdock told the CIA man where Lam and the Filipino officer were.
“Yes, I love it. Spy work right here on the ground. I’d guess you didn’t tell your favorite colonel.”
“Not yet. Not until we have to. We’ll make contact with Lam tonight at midnight, see what they’ve found.”
Stroh frowned, then rubbed one hand over his freshly shaved face. “Think that I should make a call to Manila. I met a general there who is a good friend of our resident field agent here. See what I can find out about the command in this region. There may even be a general hiding out somewhere on this base. I’ll find a secure phone somewhere and make some calls.”
Murdock checked with the Senior Chief. All was well. The men were ready and waiting.
“Figure some sack time tonight and maybe no mission tomorrow,” Sadler said. “We’ve got to give Lam some time to come up with something out there in the boondocks.”
“I’m betting they do,” Murdock said.
After chow, the men sat around their quarters talking. Murdock came in, and DeWitt slid over and got into the play. They were talking about the security.
“Don’t seem like they got shit for security here,” Ostercamp said.
“Maybe they want it that way,” Sadler said. “They bring us in, then give us bad intel, and if we get some good shit they leak it to the rebels, who are long gone by the time we get there.”
DeWitt joined in. “Look at their record so far. They sent us on a mission to an empty village. Then the next day we hit a small village with the great big total of three rebels in it. So far they have shown us next to nothing. If it wasn’t for that prisoner talking today, we’d be zippo out of two. As it is, our only success is when we did it ourselves, and without telling anyone in the Philippine establishment.”