He took the HK from the other case and checked it. It was so new they had yet to give it a name. It fired a 7.62mm NATO round, had a thirty round magazine, and featured a laser and optic site that integrated with the VISOR.
It made him a one man killing machine.
Lastly, he picked up the VISOR and activated the clamshell. He took a deep breath and put it on, closing it, and for a brief moment he felt suffocating panic until the display came to life. A cool wash of air caressed his face as the environmental system came online, the smell of plastic and charcoal fading swiftly. The screens blazed to life, the desert illuminated in full and vibrant color. The HUD showed his stats, the link between the Implant and the VISOR, the thirty rounds in the HK, and then the communications package came online.
“Eric?”
“I’m here.”
The VISOR displayed Eric’s position on a topographical map
“Redman, too.”
Redman’s position popped on the map. Both men were on the move.
“Clark?” he asked.
“I’m here, John,” Clark said, from half a world away. “We’ve got a drone over the area relaying signal and we’re capturing video from the VISOR.”
John concentrated and the map shrank, replaced with a live feed from the drone. He concentrated again and the video zoomed in until he saw himself standing in front of the two cases. He waved up and the man in the video waved up as well.
He concentrated and the screen changed again. He saw Eric, a ghostly white figure, at a fast hike nearing a ridge. The screen changed again and he saw Redman doing the same. He zoomed out and saw their objective, a natural depression on the desert floor, hundreds of feet across, surrounded by piles of stone and the remnants of several bombed-out trucks. In the center of the depression stood a stone bunker, built by the Mujahideen during the war with the Soviets. It had been bombed and rebuilt over the years, and Ali assured them it was still in use.
He started hiking and the VISOR plotted his course, the GPS guiding him to his destination. The pace was quick and his body moved smoothly, the months of training helping him eat through the miles of hard rock scrabble.
While his body was engaged in moving through the desert, his mind was restless. He kept replaying the Red Cross bombing, his terrible actions, and the actions of the Office. Eric had been so helpful during his training, always willing to answer every question. Eric had been his friend, he thought, but it was all a lie. Eric’s job was to turn him into a killing machine.
Is that me? A killer?
He arrived at his destination, not far from the rock stronghold. Twilight had faded and the sky was black. The stronghold appeared deserted, but he knew better. Surveillance had shown different men, four at last count, entering and leaving over the day. He checked Eric and Redman’s positions and found they had reached their positions.
“We’ve got a truck on visual,” Clark said. “We’ve tracked it as it crossed the Pak border. We believe it contains the target.”
“How far out?” John asked.
“Five kilometers,” Clark said. “Moving slowly, should be there in twenty minutes.”
“Should we hit them when they arrive?” John asked.
“Negative,” Eric said. “We don’t know who’s in that truck.”
“If it’s just AQ,” Redman said, “my vote is for a missile strike.”
Eric laughed. “Copy that, but our mission is to find Abdullah.”
They waited in silence. John watched the drone data, the video of the truck bouncing over the rough foot-trail now used as a road. When it was within eyesight he turned off the drone data and turned on the VISOR’s night vision mode, the world alive in ghostly greens and whites. He activated the thermal overlay at ten percent and saw a heat bloom from a rodent, hiding quietly near his feet. He tossed a small pebble and saw the heat bloom scurry off into the distance.
Smart mouse.
The truck finally reached the fortress.
“Look alive,” Eric said
John was crouched just a few hundred meters from the building. He kicked up the amplification of the VISOR and saw the truck come to a stop.
There were three men in the truck and two in the back. The men in the back were heavily bearded with thick wool caps and patos over their shoulders along with their AK-47’s. They jumped from the bed of the truck and looked around, scanning the desert.
He crouched lower but knew that his black Battlesuit was invisible in the night. The passenger opened the door and got out, but the driver’s body obscured his face. All John could see was his cap.
“You got an ID?” Eric asked.
“No,” John said. “Driver’s in the way. Hang on.” He rose and moved quickly for a better view as the driver came around the truck, the men in back joining him. He had gone twenty meters when he got a glimpse of the passenger. The details were blurry through the VISOR but John could see the man was clean-shaven.
They entered the stone building and the door shut, opening again soon after, as the two men from the truck bed exited the building and started patrolling the area.
“Eric,” he said. “The man didn’t have a beard.”
“That’s not a lot to go on,” Eric replied. “Did you get any audio?”
“Nothing I could understand. Clark? You get anything?”
“Karen is cleaning it up.” There was a pause. “Unable to make an ID.”
“It’s him,” John said. “These guys have beards, it’s their religious duty. Remember the razors and hair samples in Germany? It’s only been a few days, not enough time for him to grow anything but stubble. It’s him.”
“There were two sets of DNA,” Clark said.
“Fine, then it’s the other guy. He’ll know where Abdullah is.”
There was a long pause.
“John has a point,” Eric said. “Mission is a go.”
John nodded to himself. One way or the other, it will soon be over. He grabbed his HK and started to approach.
“Redman,” Eric said, “I’ll take the left guard. You take the right. Then, hit the truck engine. John, all hell’s going to break loose. You ready?”
“I’m activating the Implant,” Clark said.
John felt the rush of adrenaline, like electric fire, coursing through his veins. His blood sang and his doubts and fears fell away. He wanted to shout to the heavens. It leveled out momentarily, but he still felt sharper, stronger, and quicker. He ran, his legs propelling him across the loose rock and dirt like a marathon sprinter.
He was coming up on the building, the guards on opposite sides. He thumbed off the safety on the HK. “I’m going in.” He covered the at break-neck speed, his feet practically flying over the sand and loose rock. He saw the men fall, then heard the faint double report of Eric and Redman’s sniper rifles.
“Both targets down,” Eric confirmed.
The truck in front of him shook and holes appeared in the hood, then another double report. The .50 caliber bullets had blown completely through the engine block, rendering the truck useless. He was running toward the door when it opened and an older man with a scrabbly beard appeared, his AK-47 rising. John pulled the trigger at a dead run and put three bullets through the man’s chest. The man registered surprise and he collapsed as John ran past, practically exploding into the main room of the building, tossing a flash-bang as he cleared the door-frame.
He had a moment to register the occupants. Three men sat at a low wooden table, the beardless man with the cap at the head. Two young men sat on wooden stools on the far side of the room and an older man stood in front of a small tin stove, warming his hands. They looked shocked, then blinked and yelled as the flash-bang went off.