Chasing Tomorrow Read online

  “All boots on the ground. What’s the traffic look like? Over.”

  “Roger, Black Beauty. You have bogies moving your way. Three clicks out. Over.”

  “Roger that,” Zach said. He quickly signaled the men to be on the lookout for enemies up ahead.

  Shit! This wasn’t good. They’d only begun their ascent up the mountain and encountered resistance already. If they had to fight it out, the element of surprise would be blown, the rescue a bust.

  CHEEKHA DAR MOUNTAINS, IRAQ

  The rescue team continued on through the night toward the caves, maintaining complete silence as they moved. Central command had warned Zach to be on the lookout for insurgents heading their way. The team switched to night vision goggles and constantly scanned their surroundings for the presence of enemy fighters.

  Tony was on point. Zach and two Peshmerga fighters were in the middle, while Juan brought up the rear. It was mission critical for them to take out the approaching Taliban fighters before they could get a shot off or else the sound of gunfire would alert the kidnappers to their presence. If alerted, the kidnappers might kill the hostages, or possibly move them to a new location. Either one of these actions would be problematic on one hand and tragic on the other. There was no room for error.

  Suddenly, Tony stopped and signaled the team to hold up and get down. The men slipped to the ground, attached silencers to their weapons, and assumed sniper positions. It wasn’t long before they saw three insurgents coming up the trail. Using hand signals, Zach indicated which terrorist each member of his team should take out as they had to drop them all at once.

  Zach signaled the count. Three. Two. One. Everyone fired simultaneously, and three rebels fell to the ground. Without waiting, the team rushed forward and “double tapped” the men, then they pulled their bodies off the path, into the forested area to conceal the fact, a rescue was under way. No one spoke, but it was a big relief to know they had maintained the element of surprise. The mission could proceed as planned.

  “Black Beauty, to base. Over,” Zach said. “Black Beauty to base. Over.”

  “Roger, Beauty. Go ahead. Over.”

  “Roger, base. Three bogies down. Moving to secondary target. Any traffic my way? Over.”

  “Negative, Beauty. Clear to target. Over.”

  “Copy that.”

  For the first time Zach spoke out loud to the team. “All clear to target. Last pit stop before the attack. You need to lock everything down and be ready.”

  The men acknowledged what Zach said, took care of business, and made one more equipment check.

  “Black Beauty to Bees Knees. Black Beauty to Bees Knees. How do you copy? Over,” Zach asked, trying to raise the SAS team for the first time.

  “This is Bees Knees,” came the reply from Rossi. “We have you Lima Charlie. Over.”

  “Copy that. What is your status? Over.”

  “We’re one-five mikes out. No traffic our pos.”

  “Roger, Bees. Move to target and hold until further notice. Over.”

  “Copy that. Knees out.”

  Zach signaled the team to move out. They began their final ascent to the cave area, still under cover of the forest. Half way up the rocky slope, Zach noticed a flat area that could serve as an HLS, helicopter landing site. This site had not been apparent on the maps he’d studied back at base, but he could see the area was large enough for two Blackhawks to set down. This was a welcome relief since he wasn’t sure if Arianna or any of the other hostages were ambulatory. After the tiresome two hour hike they’d just made, it would have taxed his men to the hilt to have to carry victims back the same distance, although he would gladly carry Arianna for as long as necessary. He called in the co-ordinates of the landing site and then moved on toward their destination.

  BY FOUR a.m., Zach’s team was in assault position at cave two on the west side of the mountain…the cave where it was believed Arianna was being held. They lay in wait a hundred yards in front and just below the entrance to the cave. The very last bit of the forest provided a minimal amount of concealment. Had it been daylight, there would have been no concealment at all, but it was dark, so no one could detect their presence. Zach was waiting for word that Rossi and his team had reached their assault position at cave one. The plan was for both attacks to be executed concurrently, but no word came.

  The team had activated their night-vision goggles and silencers were still attached to their weapons, but no activity was observed at this location. Not even a snore, snort or hushed conversation could be heard coming from the cave. There could be two guards or twenty guards inside. The Predator drone lurking high above had no ability to pick up the heat signatures of people within the cave. The last intelligence report had noted six guards at this location, but that report was hours old. There was no telling how many kidnappers were inside.

  Zach didn’t like the feel of things. Everything was too quiet. The fact there was no word from Rossi was even more troubling. Two clicks on the mic was the signal that Zach’s team was in position and ready to assault. The response from Rossi, if he was in position, was supposed to be three clicks back. Nothing. Being this close to the target, there was no way to talk without being heard. Rossi, if he were in position, would not be able to speak either, so back at base, they had established this as the communication procedure. The fact that no clicks came from the SAS team was a big red flag.

  Suddenly, two guards came out of the cave. One man stepped forward and took a leak. It seemed if he stepped any closer, he’d be pissing right on Zach’s team. The other guard lit a cigarette and leaned back against the cave entrance, his AK47 at his side. Zach made a split second decision to attack. He didn’t know where Rossi was, but if he could get Arianna safely out of this cave, he’d worry about what was happening at the other cave later. He gave the signal, and two shots were fired from the silenced weapons. Both guards fell to the ground with a thud.

  The team immediately rushed to the front of the cave, “double tapping” each man where he lay as was their custom. Next they moved silently inside the entrance. Tony led the way, followed by Zach and the rest of the men. All was quiet. With their night vision, they could see four more kidnappers in various stages of sleep. One man, half awake, saw the team and reached for his weapon. Zach took him out with a shot to the head. A couple more guards woke up and were killed before they could react. A fourth guard never woke and was shot where he lay.

  Zach looked around and couldn’t find Arianna. Couldn’t see any hostages period. He frantically checked back into the dark recesses of the cave. No one. He flipped each body over to make sure they hadn’t accidently killed some hostage, thinking they were guards. Nothing. No hostages were found.

  “Shit! Shit! Shit!” he exclaimed looking at his teammates. “She’s not, here. None of the hostages are here.”

  “Bees Knees this is Black Beauty. Do you copy? Over.” There was no answer. “Bees Knees this is Black Beauty. I say again. Do you copy? Over.” He waited. No clicks back. No talking. No nothing.

  “Fuck!” he cursed, and started toward the exit. Looking at the Peshmerga fighters who had gone in with them, he said, “Stay here. Clear and secure this target. Check the bodies for phones, and look around for any other intel lying about. When you’re finished, make your way to the HLS and wait for us.”

  A Kurdish officer nodded. “Roger that.”

  “Tony. Juan, come with me. We’re going to the other cave. There are no hostages here, and Rossi’s not answering. Something’s wrong. We need to get there fast.”

  CHEEKHA DAR MOUNTAINS, IRAQ

  The original plan called for simultaneous attacks on the two different caves. Zach would hit cave two, the last known location of Arianna, and the SAS team had the responsibility to free the British aid workers in the other cave. By attacking both caves at once, they would maintain an element of surprise, and the mission would come off without a hitch. But it was not to be. Not only was the first cave empty, but Zach had lo
st comm with the SAS team. Now, he moved toward the other cave in a frantic search for Arianna. He feared he might find nothing but dead bodies.

  Suddenly Zach’s radio crackled to life.

  “Black Beauty, this is Base. Over.”

  Zach signaled for the men to hold up, as he paused to listen. “Roger Base. This is Beauty. Go ahead. Over.”

  “Roger that. Bees Knees lost comm. Forward progress stalled. Insurgents stationed above them. Will lose element of surprise if they open up. Can you assist? Over.”

  Zach caught about every other word of this transmission. Something about this elevation was blocking his reception. Masoud and the team at Irbil were watching the operation via the SAS helmet cams, allowing them to maintain full situational awareness. Central command in Irbil knew what was happening, while both the teams on the ground were left in the dark concerning each other’s status. Visual connection was good, but lack of audio had compromised the operation.

  “This is Beauty. Say again, Base. Transmission unclear. Over.”

  Base repeated the message, and this time it came through loud and clear.

  “Roger that, Base. Moving toward their pos. Estimate contact in five mikes. Over.”

  Zach breathed a quick sigh of relief, happy to know the British team wasn’t dead. There was still hope Arianna might be in the second cave. First order of business was to figure out how to free up the SAS team without getting into a major firefight. Rossi’s men had silencers on their weapons, but any return gunfire from the Taliban would alert the kidnappers at the cave. Once alerted, who knew what the guards would do, the biggest worry being they would kill the hostages.

  Minutes later Zach, Tony, and Juan cleared a ridge and saw a small encampment of Taliban below them. There looked to be about five fighters. Two men were posted up front and were likely in the scope of the SAS team, but Zach could see the problem. Even though the British snipers could take out the two front guards, as soon as they fell, the three in the rear would open up and a fire fight would ensue.

  Zach signaled to Tony and Juan the plan of attack. The two Taliban up front were armed and ready so they would be hit first. The three in the rear were sleeping, their guns by their side. If they attacked quickly, they could take out the two sentries first, then dispatch the three on the ground before they could reach for their weapons. It would have been so easy if the radios had worked. He could have coordinated this attack with Rossi. Instead, it fell to Zach and his men to take out all five of these bogies by themselves, and do it before they could return fire.

  Juan was the best shot. He would take out the two guards up front, while Zach and Tony took out the men in the rear. On Zach’s command, they lit them up with their lasers and fired. All five insurgents were hit and either fell to the ground or died where they lay.

  The team moved down to the encampment and double tapped all the enemies. The SAS team came cautiously forward and joined them. Night vision goggles and laser beams provided great tactical advantage. Anyone wearing NVGs could see the laser beams, whereas the enemy had no idea they were in someone’s sight. Rossi’s team recognized right away it was Zach who had come to the rescue.

  Using hand signals only to maintain strict silence, Zach relayed what had happened at cave one. Rossi acknowledged, and together they began their ascent to the Eastern cave. They’d have to move fast. In another hour, it would be daylight and the kidnappers would be up and about.

  They finally reached the cave area and assumed assault positions. Two guards were posted outside the cave, but they looked to be dozing off. No one else was moving about. Once again, they had no intel as to who or how many were inside. All they could do was mount the attack and take out whoever they encountered.

  Assignments were made and on Zach’s signal, Juan dropped the two outside guards, but not before one of the men got a shot off alerting others of the pending attack. A kidnapper not previously seen, perched above the cave, opened up with a fifty cal, pinning the team down.

  “Someone get that gun,” Zach screamed.

  “I’m on it, mate,” Rossi replied and sprinted in a zig zag pattern into position to the gunner’s right flank. The Brit tossed a grenade and took out the gun. Other guards streamed out of the entrance of the cave, their AK47s blazing. Like shooting fish in a barrel, these kidnappers were quickly taken down. Zach rushed forward and moved inside the entrance of the cave. He first encountered a Taliban fighter who raised his gun to fire at him. Zach fired first and dropped the assailant.

  Moving on into the cave, he could see people all over. He tried to adjust his night vision so he could discern guards from the hostages who were bundled up and huddled up here and there around the interior. A figure scrambled to the corner of the cave to retrieve a rifle. Zach tackled him and once he was sure it was an insurgent and not a hostage trying to get out of the way, he shot him.

  As his men were engaged in a firefight with other guards, he quickly moved from hostage to hostage until he found Arianna under a blanket. He hurled himself on top of her to protect her from gunfire that was still raging on around her. She screamed in pain as his body covered hers. Shocked at her reaction, he said, “Arianna, it’s me…Zach. We’re going to get you out of here.”

  “Zach. Oh Zach,” she cried, happy to see him but overtaken with pain. “My ribs. I think they’re broken.” She tried to push him off her. “I…can’t…breath.”

  He rose up so as not to crush her, while still shielding her with his body armor. She lay there whimpering, the pain intense.

  He heard one man behind him yell, “clear” followed by a series of repeated “clears” being shouted out from his team. The firefight was over. The room secured. He lifted himself off Arianna and wasted no time in yelling for a medic. “Medic!” he yelled again as he looked down at her hollowed-out eyes and gaunt face, riddled with pain. He ripped the hijab off her head and threw it away in disgust. Letting out an anguished sigh of relief, he ran his fingers through her hair and kissed the top of her head. Her breathing was labored, and she moaned softly.

  “Medic. Where’s the damn medic?” he screamed for the third time.

  “Right here, sir,” a medic said, finally showing up. “What we got here?” he asked.

  “Possible broken ribs. She’s in extreme pain. Stabilize her as best you can and give her something for pain so we can transport her.”

  “Roger that,” the officer replied and pulled out a syringe full of morphine. He plunged it into her thigh and tossed the needle aside. “This should hold her for a while.”

  Almost instantly Ariana’s eyes glazed over, and Zach could see her body physically relax as the opiate took effect. She feebly reached for Zach, tears of joy in her eyes. He reached down and lifted her gently to him, and though he wanted to envelop her in a crushing embrace, he held back and brushed a kiss across her the lips as she sobbed in his arms.

  “It’s okay,” he said, trying to sooth her. “You’re safe. We’re going home, but we have to move. It’s not going to be pleasant even with the meds. Can you handle it?”

  She nodded. “I just want to go home.”

  He stood up and said, “Okay, men, let’s get this buttoned up here. There are more bogies out there. Check all these bodies for ID’s and phones and anything else that looks like it’s good intel. We’re out of here in two mikes, so let’s move it.”

  Rossi helped Glynis and the other aid workers to their feet. “Ladies, you’re safe now. Time to go home.”

  Amira stood with the women, trying to shield her face from view as she pretended to be one of the hostages.

  “Look,” Glynis said grabbing Rossi by the arm. “She’s not a hostage.”

  “What?” he asked and started to walk toward Amira. Before he could get close, a shot rang out, and Amira fell to the ground, wounded but not dead.

  Zach spun around to see what had happened and saw Arianna holding one of the kidnapper’s rifles, still aimed at Amira. “Arianna. What are you doing? Put the gun down.�
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  “She’s the bomber’s wife. She’s the one who kidnapped me. This is all her fault.”

  “Not true,” Amira said, as she lay holding her wounded arm. “I was kind to you. I saved you from being raped. You should thank me.”

  Arianna tried to raise the heavy weapon and shoot again, but was too weak. She slumped back against the wall, and the gun rattled to the floor.

  “Don’t believe her,” Glynis chimed in and walked over and spit on Amira. “You’re pure evil. Looks like the one you loved to call an American slut had the last word. She just got even for all the times you struck her. Paybacks are hell, bitch.”

  Zach frowned. He looked over at Arianna. The fact she’d try to kill this woman told him everything he needed to know about what had gone down here. Taking his helmet off, he handed it to Tony. All the other operators looked away lest their helmet cams should record something they didn’t want others to see.

  Zach walked over to Amira and struck her once in the ribs with the butt of his gun. A loud crack could be heard, and she cried out in pain. He pressed the barrel of his gun to her head.

  “No. No, please,” Amira begged. “I saved her from being raped. You should thank me.”

  What the hell went on here? Had Arianna actually been raped? He was enraged by this whole situation. “Don’t worry,” he said to the woman who lay before him in fear and agony. “I’m not going to let you suffer with cracked ribs like you did the woman you kidnapped.” He pulled the trigger. One shot to the head. Then another to the heart.

  He returned to Tony and retrieved his helmet. Fastening it back in place, he yelled to the men, “Okay, let’s move out.”

  CHEEKHA DAR MOUNTAINS, IRAQ

  After shooting Amira, Zach walked over to where Arianna lay nearly passed out from exertion and a mega dose of morphine. She mouthed the words, “Thank you.”