“No, we don’t.”
“Obviously, you want me to rescue Warris.”
“Not exactly.”
I sighed deeply. That phrase was becoming a knife in my back. Then again, maybe they were writing off the young captain? No way. They couldn’t be. “Sir?”
“We might be able to use Warris’s capture to justify a big offensive in the area. It’s what that place really needs anyway. Some big units moving through and sweeping out the cockroaches. It’s too damned corrupt to send you guys in there to take out one man. The guy’s laying low, and if he does move, they’ve got him disguised. We even thought they might’ve moved him in a body bag from one part of the village to another. I’ve got nothing actionable to hand you at this point.”
“So you’re giving up on my mission?”
“No, you’ve still got time to do what you can. It’ll take another two weeks for the logistics to be worked out. They’ll need to pull some people out of Helmand. But once that happens, Zahed won’t know what hit him. However, the Ghosts can save face by pulling Zahed out of there before the hammer drops.”
“So you want me to get Zahed and rescue Warris, but you want me to take my time on the rescue op.”
“Obviously this call is not being recorded and the transmission is fully encrypted,” he said with a wink. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t confirm that. But hell yes, son, you need to begin some negotiations, but buy us the time on our end.”
“What if they torture him? What if he spills his guts to those bastards?”
“We’ll have to take the hit, because higher believes that securing Kandahar and the outlying areas—”
“You don’t need to finish,” I told him while sighing in disgust.
I leaned back from the cubicle and glanced around the comm center. I was wearing headphones and the screen had glare protection, so no one could peer over my shoulders.
And at that moment, I stopped calling him “sir.” I’d known Buzz Gordon for a very long time, and that was the most tense few moments I’ve ever had with a CO. “Buzz, I need your advice on something.”
“Glad I’m still good for something.”
“I, uh, I can’t tell you everything.”
“Scott, it’s me.”
“I know, I know.” I took a deep breath and spoke slowly. “I’ve got a problem with Ramirez. I want you to know that if something happens to me, you’ll need to confine and question him. That’s all I’m saying.”
“Whoa, what the hell are you talking about?”
“I’m just saying I got a problem.”
“Scott, what’s going on out there?”
“If it comes down to it, I just want you to question Ramirez, all right?”
“I’m shocked. He’s one of the top five operators we have, and you’re telling me you think he’s going to frag you?”
“I don’t know.”
“Why would he want to do that, Scott?”
“Like I said, I’m not in a position to tell you everything.”
“You don’t need to protect me.”
“I know. I’m trying to save my own ass here.”
“So let me give you the company line here: You’re the on-scene commander, and I expect and trust you to resolve the situation in a professional and expeditious manner. You have been and will continue to be put in situations where you have two competing obligations.”
“I understand.”
“And now as a friend and fellow soldier, I’ll tell you this: If Ramirez is a problem — in the way that you suggest — then, for the good of the Ghosts, for the good of all operators, you need to address that problem.”
“In any way I can?”
“That’s right.”
“Would you consider that an order?”
“You know I can’t.”
I sighed and closed my eyes. “Yeah…”
“Scott, I wasn’t aware it’s gotten that bad.”
I couldn’t meet his gaze. “Well, Harruck’s babysitting the governor on our base, the spook is working on something that involves the Chinese smuggling in HERF guns, and the local police and Army are nonexistent. So yeah, it’s pretty bad.”
Gordon shook his head. “Two weeks, Scott. Get Zahed. If you wind up rescuing Warris early, then do it if you have to, but if you can sit on your hands, then do that, too.”
“All right.”
I couldn’t help but rejoice over his order to delay rescuing Warris. And I couldn’t believe the irony of that, either. Warris’s capture was giving them an excuse to break out the big guns and finally put some steel on terrorist targets. Maybe they were realizing that COIN operations needed some teeth behind them.
Then again, I wondered how effective even a major offensive might be. Word would get back to Zahed that forces were moving toward Sangsar, and he would just skip town until the fireworks were over. Then he’d come back and set up shop once more. Just a vicious circle. We had to get him before he left. They needed to cordon off that entire village.
When I left the comm center, I got word from the main gate that someone had come to see me: Shilmani. I went out there and had a seat on the tailgate of his water truck. “What are you doing here?”
“I want to help you.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Do you trust me?”
I shouldn’t have hesitated. But I did. “Okay, I trust you.”
“Then change your clothes. Burki wants to see you. I’ll wait here for you.”
“We always travel in pairs. I’ll need to bring another soldier.”
He didn’t flinch. “Okay.”
When I walked into our billet, several of the guys came over to me, and Brown said, “We think Ramirez is sick. He’s been throwing up since you guys got back. Nolan’s taking him to the hospital.”
“Oh, okay, good. Treehorn?”
The big guy looked up at me from his bunk. “Yeah, boss?”
“Get dressed like an Afghan. We’re going for a little ride.”
“You got it.”
I headed to the back of the billet, where Nolan was handing a canteen to Ramirez. “Come on, bro. You need to go over there.”
Ramirez, who was wearing only his skivvies now, shook his head.
“Hey, Joey, you okay?” I asked, my tone more of a challenge than an expression of concern.
He could barely face me. “Perfect.”
“Then why are you throwing up? You didn’t look sick a little while ago…”
He snorted. “You see that crap they’re serving in the mess hall? I guess it takes a while to seep into your guts.”
“Well, I hope you feel better. Soon.” I walked back to my bunk and began changing. Before I was finished, Nolan and Ramirez pushed past me and headed outside.
Brown lifted his head from his bunk. “Hey, Captain? Everything okay? I’m getting some bad vibes from you and Joey.”
“We’re cool. I’m just worried about him.”
“We’re worried about you.”
I drew back my head. “Me?”
“Yeah. You got a lot of pressure. We lost Matt. Warris is out there. We get new orders yet?”
I gave a short nod. “I’ll brief you guys when we get back.”
Shilmani drove Treehorn and me to one of two shacks positioned along more foothills on the far west side of the town. The shacks rose improbably from the dirt and pockmarked hills, and they looked as though they’d been there for centuries. Long rows of water jugs were stacked on a rickety framework, and two more pickup trucks were parked behind them.
Two men with AK-47s sat on the roof of one shack, and the rickety ladder they’d used to ascend to their perch leaned against one wall, casting a long shadow.
They eyed our group with deep suspicion, and I was glad to move into the cooler shadows of the first shack, where the water man sat on a thick carpet and sipped tea, along with a much younger man, who suddenly shot to his feet as we entered.