First Strike Page 4
Shouldering Ben, they headed out of the ravine to where Connor was waiting. “We’ve got just twenty minutes to make our evac rendezvous, and it’s a kilometre from here. We’re going to have to run. Ben, can you make it?”
“I can try, sir.”
Connor saw that Ben still couldn’t put his weight on his injured ankle. “No. We’ll take it in turns carrying you. Danny and Sparks, take the first hundred metres.”
Barely midway through the village they could hear the approaching F-16s. Desperately, Sparks tried to raise CENTCOM and get them to delay the strike. He looked to the heavens and cursed. “Too late, sir, they’ve been given the green light. They’ll be here any second.”
Heaving for breath, they ran on, Ben slung between Connor’s and Danny’s shoulders. They made it just past Hamid’s house when the F-16s roared overhead and their bombs slammed into the village. The whole area erupted. Balls of fire engulfed the valley. The blasts flung Connor and his team through the air. Landing heavily in deep drifts of snow they felt the searing heat as debris rained down on them.
Winded, Connor rolled over. Jacko was sat up, coughing. Danny and Sam complained they’d gone temporarily deaf. Realising everyone was alive, Ben let out a primal scream and smacked his fists into the snow.
Slowly, they dragged themselves to their feet. “Sir,” Sparks called out, his face blackened with soot. “Made contact with our helo. She’s landed. They know we’re slightly behind schedule and will wait for us.”
“How very generous of them,” Connor muttered. He managed to stagger a few paces before stopping to catch his breath. “Guys, the next time I get a text from Colonel Rogers, remind me to ignore it!”
WEAPONS and GEAR
GLOSSARY
air strike bombs dropped by a plane onto a target
bins binoculars
drone an unmanned remote-controlled vehicle
evac short for evacuation
fedayeen someone who gives up their life for something they believe
GPS short for global positioning system
IEDs Improvised Explosive Devices, home-made bombs triggered by remote control
infidels refers to someone without faith, in this case, a non-Muslim
intel short for intelligence
ISAF International Security Assistance Force — the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan
rendezvous a pre-arranged meeting
In Book 4, 347 prisoners escape from a jail in Kandahar. One of them is Jabir Hassani — a Taliban warlord.
Major Nathan Connor and his Delta Force team must kill or capture Hassani, and put a stop to his plans.
Mid-morning, Major Nathan Connor and his team arrived in their modified GMV at the outskirts of Kandahar’s old town. It was chaos. Dozens of armoured vehicles were parked up close together. Groups of ANA soldiers stood around at road junctions, while others pulled razor wire across the road to form a barricade. Black Hawk helicopters roared overhead, circling at low altitude. In the searing heat, dozens of US marines in body armour and full kit were standing around clutching their weapons, sweating and waiting nervously to move out; others were running to and fro as final preparations were made. General Patterson’s parting orders rang in Connor’s ears — find Jabir and this time I don’t give a damn whether you kill or capture him!
Continued in: Task Force Delta — Kill or Capture
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