Everyone kept asking her what was going on. She would only tell them she didn’t know why, but Colonel Hunter had ordered an all-hands meeting. Something big had gone down. We hadn’t had a meeting like this since our first night in-country.
For my part, I could guess what was happening. Gordon had told me that Project Heartbreaker was winding down. I wondered if, hell, hoped that the Project had been canceled and that we’d all be going home.
We all filed into the chow hall, and people began to sit down. Several of Hunter’s security people were standing around, looking just as confused as the rest of us. My old buddy Conrad was there, too, looking as dickish as usual.
Aside from the support staff, only fifteen members of Dead Six were present. I knew another ten or so were still out at safe houses throughout the city. Even still, a lot of faces were missing, and almost a third of the guys present had been wounded.
Even our support staff hadn’t been untouched. Sarah, Anita King, and another controller whose name I couldn’t recall were there. But the fourth controller, a woman named Evelyn Majors, had been killed in action. She’d been sent in to a captured enemy safe house to help gather intelligence. The whole place had been wired. It blew up, killing her and all of Hansen’s chalk. A couple of the logistics guys had been killed by a suicide bomber downtown.
We sat around talking for a few minutes. The dull roar of conversation quickly dropped away when Colonel Hunter came purposefully striding into the room. He stopped at the front of the chow hall, near the carts where the food was served.
“Listen up, everyone,” he said, his raspy voice echoing through the now-quiet cafeteria. “Two hours ago there was an explosion at the Royal Palace. The emir is dead. It’s been confirmed. General Al Sabah has declared martial law and has effected a nationwide curfew. He’s deploying half the Zubaran Army throughout the city in order to lock everything down.
“Not all of the Army is on his side. According to our information, one of the emir’s sons is still alive and is trying to rally support. General Al Sabah claims that the emir’s son assassinated his father in a coup attempt. We have every reason to believe that General Al Sabah was the one behind the bombing. Either way, a civil war is about to break out in this country, and our support network is gone.”
“What does this mean, sir?” someone asked.
Hunter looked thoughtful for a second. “Without Zubaran support, we can’t function. We can’t get supplies in and out of the country, and half of our best intelligence came from the emir’s secret police. This is a crippling blow to our operations. Project Heartbreaker has failed.” Hunter let that sink in for a moment before continuing. “I’ve been in contact with higher authority. I spoke with Gordon Willis half an hour ago. Project Heartbreaker has been terminated. Dead Six is being disbanded. We’re all going home.”
The chow hall erupted in clapping and cheers before Hunter could even finish saying it. Sarah leaned over and hugged me tightly in my seat. I could scarcely believe it, even though I’d sort of known this was going to happen. I was going to have to call Ling and tell her we wouldn’t be needing her assistance after all. A big smile formed across my face.
“Okay, okay, listen up!” Hunter shouted. “Getting home is going to be a long and painful process, folks. There’s going to be out-processing, nondisclosure agreements, and more paperwork than you can imagine. We’re still working on getting all your pay problems straightened out, too. Worse, you’re not leaving Zubara on a plane.”
“How are we leaving then, Colonel?”
“The situation in the Zoob has deteriorated enough that they’re not willing to risk our jet. Tomorrow night, around midnight, a boat will be coming for us. It’ll moor at the dock on the north side of the fort. You’re all going to board that vessel, and you’ll be on your way. Before ten people ask, I have no idea where that boat is going. I won’t be on it.”
I barely listened to the rest of Hunter’s briefing. He went on about how we needed to pack our stuff and start breaking down everything in the fort as quickly as possible. Instead my attention was focused on Sarah. She was beaming at me, a bright smile on her face. We were going to have to have a long talk about the future, about us. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, either. But after everything we’d been through already, I knew we could make it.
As it would turn out, I didn’t know anything.
LORENZO
May 11
My phone sat in the middle of kitchen table, and I just watched it . . . waiting. The others had joined me, and the four of us were in a circle, kind of quietly looking at that phone like it was a magic oracle that was going to spit out the answers in a rhyming riddle or something. We had spent the last week preparing for today. Our equipment had been checked and rechecked. My crew was ready for anything. I didn’t know what the Fat Man’s message would bring, but I knew with dead certainty that he would call. Big Eddie’s people were extremely reliable.
And punctual. The phone buzzed. I pushed the button for speaker phone.
The Fat Man spoke. “Dead Six is supposed to leave Zubara tonight. They will be told to gather in the old Fort Saradia compound to await evacuation. A boat is supposed to pick them up at midnight.”
Reaper was already pulling up a map of the area and getting details on the old British fort. “How many men?” I asked.
“Approximately twenty-five remaining combat personnel and a dozen or more support staff. They will have all their equipment, and they will be alert. The last of them have been recalled already. Fort Saradia was their base of operations. All of their personnel will be on-site before sundown. They will need to be inside before the curfew to avoid suspicion.”
Reaper turned his laptop so I could see the fort. It was a big square of tall mud-brick walls on the coast just west of the Ash Shamal peninsula. A single road led to it, weaving through encroaching housing and terminating right at the front gate. The fort itself was big enough to fit a football field inside and had several interior buildings. That was a lot of area to cover. “Do you know where the box is being kept?”
“I do not have that information.”
Of course. “Anything else you can give me?”
“I would strongly suggest that you accomplish your mission before midnight. You do not want to be there after midnight.”
“What happens then?”
“I cannot tell you, but Dead Six will be dead by dawn. Do you understand me, Mr. Lorenzo?”
I hope you choke on a pancake and die. “Tell your boss I’ll get the box.” I hung up. The group was quiet as I studied the satellite photo of the fort. Something was going down, something huge.
Tonight I would bring the fight to Dead Six.
VALENTINE
Fort Saradia National Historical Site
May 11
1500
I found myself alone in my room, packing my belongings. Almost all of my clothes were stuffed into my duffel bag. In the short time I’d been in the Zoob, I’d somehow managed to acquire a second duffel bag’s worth of crap, and I was busy sorting through it all.
All of the gear I’d been issued was on my bed, laid out for sorting. We were told to just throw away the various fatigues and other clothing we’d used. Colonel Hunter told us to keep our body armor and weapons with us until we were on the boat and out of Zubaran waters. The situation downtown had rapidly deteriorated, and there’d been sporadic fighting throughout the tiny country. Rumors were flying about the emir’s son planning a last-ditch attempt to retake the Royal Palace. We all figured Zubara would be a war zone before the night was out, and we wanted to be ready in case anything spilled over onto our doorstep.