Chasing Tomorrow Read online

  Tony looked a bit astonished. “Wow! You gotta be kidding me. Didn’t know they made them that small. This is some awesome new technology.”

  “We call them ‘death chips’,” Commander Haji interjected. “Once we mark a terrorist with one of these, it’s all over for them.”

  “Fricking amazing,” Juan said. “Even more outstanding was the pesky little insect drone that delivered the tag. I thought it was a fly or a mosquito.”

  Masoud smiled. “Yes, you did. You came close to smashing it. No big deal. Each one costs only fifty thousand dollars or more to produce. They’re little but mighty, and they have a range of about two miles and various ranges of shelf-life.”

  “And even better,” Haji said to Tony, “the insect that buzzed your head had a camera in it.”

  “Mmm, mmm, mmm. A proverbial fly on the wall,” Zach said. “I can see this is going to revolutionize intel gathering as well as how battles are fought.”

  Masoud picked up one of the drones and handed it to one of his assistants. “Yes, someone sitting behind a joy stick in a faraway place can fly this thing into a room, find it a place to perch, and let it sit there and transmit all kinds of information. This gives us situational awareness such as we’ve never known before.”

  “We’ve been using these things for a while,” Haji said. “We recruited some local villagers who we trust to plant these around alleged terrorist safehouses. Once these dwellings have been marked, we send in an armed Predator or Reaper drone to take out the bad guys.”

  Masoud’s eyes lit up with excitement. “One of our operatives dropped microchips hidden in a cigarette wrapper at the home of a target. Boom! Bye, bye bad guy. Death chips! It was an amazing sight.”

  Zach pushed back in his chair, restless with all the downtime. “This is all well and good, but how does all this figure into our mission?”

  Masoud stood up and said, “Let’s step outside, and I’ll show you.”

  The group moved to an open area in the back of the base. Commander Haji handed Zach a small mechanical object. “This is the PD-100 Black Hornet 2. Notice how light it is.”

  Zach bounced it a couple times in his hand then passed it on to Tony to examine. It fit nicely in the palm of his hand and was as light as a book of matches.

  “It weighs only eighteen grams and is equipped with cameras, both regular and thermal. It’ll fly for up to twenty-five minutes with a range of two miles. It can be flown on its own via the GPS autopilot feature or you can manually control it. Because it’s so small, it can be stored in a ruck sack or worn on the body for easy access. The fact they’re light-weight makes it easy to carry several of them when you’re on a long trek.”

  One of Haji’s men launched one of the Hornets and invited the men to watch the hand-held monitor to see the drone as it flew toward a preset target. Once it was in range, the drone’s camera zeroed in on a soldier waving at them a mile away.

  “Whoa! That’s amazing. Can’t believe something this small can get this kind of resolution from that far away,” Juan said, “and it was fast, too.”

  “It looks like a bird flying around.” Zach shaded his eyes from the sun to see the drone in the distance. “It’s quiet for a done. That’s plus.”

  Tony chuckled. “It’s a modern day carrier pigeon.”

  Juan could hardly contain himself. “Man, think how many times we could have used something like this in battle. It could have saved our ass a ton of times.”

  “You got that right.” Tony focused on the control panel as he worked to bring the drone home. “This is some amazing shit.”

  Everyone nodded in agreement.

  “So, Masoud,” Zach said, “put this all together for us. Give us the specifics of this op.”

  “Right. So let’s go back inside, and I’ll lay it all out for you.”

  Once inside, Masoud said, “Here’s the deal. We’ve been tasked with taking out executioner Jihadi Joe. Two problems though. One is pinning down his exact location. He moves around a lot. Secondly, once we find him, we need to complete the mission without losing any of our men. We know he’s in Syria, but so far, getting close enough to get actionable intel on his exact location has been a problem.”

  Commander Haji stepped in and continued the brief. “You men have already been introduced to the ‘combat burqa’ which we think can solve the problem of getting close. Now, that we can get you close, we can send a couple mini drones in to surveil the area and mark his location. Once marked, one of our Predator drones can then take him out.”

  He turned on a computer and brought up a map of Syria on the overhead monitor. “We think he’s in Deir ez-Zur, a small village along the Euphrates in the northeastern part of Syria.” He pointed to the town on the map. “The problem is, there’s nothing but open desert between us and this location. Getting close enough to get any intel without being picked up by radar has been problematic in the past.”

  Masoud stepped back into the conversation. “What we think will work is to insert your team out of radar range, then let you hump close to the village wearing the combat burqa, shielding you from detection. Once in range, you can run recon using the insect drones.”

  Zach pushed back in his chair. “Sounds good, but from our standpoint, our safety depends solely on the effectiveness of this combat burqa thing.” He stared at them, waiting for an answer.

  “Not totally, but okay, yeah, I guess you could be right about that,” Masoud said.

  “No, not could be right. I know I’m totally right. If this anti-radar, detection gear fails to keep us from being discovered, we’ll be sitting ducks out there, and I don’t have to tell you, our odds are not good if a fire fight breaks out.”

  Haji paused as the weight of what he was asking these men to do sank in. “I understand, but all I can say is, never before have we had the technology that allowed us to get this close, undetected. Now, the burqa and the drones together have given us an opportunity to pull off something they won’t be expecting. This guy thinks he’s safe and can get away with these horrendous crimes. We intend to show him, and all his ISIS brothers, that our reach is long and deadly.”

  “Ziryan, you will have a great back-up team,” Masoud said. “We will keep your team safe, no problem.”

  Haji nodded. “The command center here will have surveillance drones looking after you. We’re not going to leave you hanging out there. The drones we will use can stay aloft for up to twenty hours at a time, loitering over an area and sending back real-time imagery of activities on the ground. We’ll be watching you every minute.”

  Zach looked at him and shook his head. “With all due respect, sir, this isn’t our first rodeo. Having eyes on and getting help to us in a timely fashion are two entirely different things.”

  Tony and Juan both nodded in agreement.

  “You’re free to pass on this assignment, my friends, if you have too many concerns,” Masoud said, “but we hope you’ll run this op for us.”

  Zach walked over and looked out at the clear blue sky. Somebody wanted this guy, this executioner, bad. So badly they were willing to put the lives of three men in grave danger in order to take him down. Politically there was probably a lot of benefit in this kill for the powers that be, back in the USA, but not much reward for Zach and his team. All they would get would be the satisfaction of knowing they’d helped to take out one of the world’s most hated men. There would never be any public acknowledgement of their heroic deed but then, that’s not why they were in this line of work anyway.

  He wasn’t afraid of the mission, but he wasn’t stupid either. This was new technology, and if it failed, he knew he was putting himself and his men in grave danger. He never rushed carelessly into any assignment no matter how noble the cause. Having thought this through, however, he finally turned and said, “We’re in, so let’s move out.”

  Masoud let out a sigh of relief. “Many of our people have been murdered. We are determined to find the monster behind these horrific beheadin
gs, and we won’t stop until the job is done. We thank you for your help, and trust us, we have your back.”

  SWEAT DRIPPED off Zach’s face as he lay hidden under the combat burqa outside the village of Deir ez-Zur. He and his team had inserted by helicopter into the Syrian desert at 0400 hours and had made their way on foot to a location about two miles outside the village. The sun was just coming up, and the desert heat was building fast.

  “This special ghost suit,” as Juan had started to call the anti-radar detection suit, “had better do its job, or we’re toast.”

  “Ha! That’s funny…toast,” Tony chimed in. “I feel like a piece of toast in this damn thing. It’s hot. It’s heavy, and if we have to make a run for it, it’s the first thing I’m ditching.”

  Zach laughed. “I hear ya’, but no one’s making a run for it. This plan is going to work, and we’re going to get in and out with no problem.”

  “Roger that,” Tony and Juan said in unison.

  “Time for the birds to fly.” Zach pulled a mini drone out of his ruck sack. He had the PD-100 Black Hornet which looked like a bird. It was controlled by a hand-held device he used to deliver it to its location. It would provide overall situational awareness.

  Tony and Juan had the insect drones which were run by a GPS guidance system. Coordinates had been programmed in to guide them to their locations. Juan’s drone had a thermal camera that would transmit video to Haji’s team back at the FOB for visual identification of Jihadi Joe, while Tony’s drone would mark the target with an RFID chip if the executioner was found.

  Time was of the essence. The drones only had a limited amount of air time and were only good at a specific range. Communication between Zach and his team and Haji’s team back at the base was crucial. Zach needed to know when to move closer, when to move more to the north or south, and when to pull a drone out that was nearly out of power. It was a very technical operation and many elements needed to come together for it to be a success.

  “Three away,” Tony said, as he launched the last drone. “Now, we wait and watch.”

  “Roger that,” Zach heard in his ear bud from Haji at the cent com post. “We have you on visual, and you’re looking good.”

  “Hold on,” Juan said. “Check your ten o’clock. We got visitors coming our way.”

  Using the scope on his rifle, Zach zeroed in on a cloud of dust and two vehicles sporting ISIS flags, heading in their direction. “Shit! Hunker down, fellas and stay under cover. Let’s hope this camouflage is as good as Masoud made it out to be.” He heard the click of safety’s being released. “Everyone stay frosty and don’t move until you hear my command.”

  COLOGNE, GERMANY

  Back in their hotel suite, Arianna pulled off her jacket and made her way to the room’s mini bar. “Well, that was an interesting conversation,” she said, as she poured herself a gin and tonic. “Anyone joining me in a drink? Kevin? Raul?”

  Kevin dropped his camera bag on an empty chair. “A beer sounds good. Do they have any dark ale?”

  Arianna looked through the selection of beers. “Try this.” She handed him a Lowenbrau Dunkel. “This looks like a dark beer of some sort. Raul, what are you having?”

  “Just a soda, please.”

  “You’re so good. I don’t think one drink would hurt, but I know your policy. You never drink when you’re working.”

  “Have to be alert at all times. I’ll take a Coke.”

  She popped the can open and poured the soda in a glass. “Technically you’re always on duty, so that means you can never drink. You’re a lot more disciplined than I am.”

  Raul smiled at her and took a sip of his cola. “All part of the job.”

  Arianna returned the smile and gave him a pat on the back as she passed by him. She pulled out her notebook, sat down on the sofa, and began reviewing her notes. “I thought Rashid’s story today was quite interesting. Things must really be bad back in his country for him to leave his pregnant wife and two children. I must say, his story puts a real human face on the tragedy that’s unfolding in Syria.”

  Kevin checked his camera equipment and reviewed some of the video. “Well, we have it all on film, so whenever you want to run this story, let me know.”

  Arianna flipped through her notes. “Not enough material yet, but in a couple days, I should be able to make my first report.”

  “Löwenbräu Dunkel?” Kevin said, studying the label on his beer. “Don’t think this is available in the States, but it’s good stuff.” He set the bottle down and reached for the phone. “Hey, anyone hungry? I think I’ll call down for a fruit and cheese plate and maybe some Bavarian pretzels.”

  “Sounds good. I’m a bit hungry myself.” Arianna continued reviewing her notes. “I thought the most chilling thing Rashid said was about how ISIS fighters were mixed in with the refugees. Of course, these men could simply be seeking asylum too, but somehow I think they have something more sinister in mind.”

  “Math was never my strong suit,” Kevin said, as sat down across from her, “but if even a small percent of the refugees are terrorists, then there could be thousands of them here on the continent. That doesn’t bode well for the future.”

  Arianna looked up and nodded, assessing the meaning of his statement. “When I talked to Dolph, he said there is much controversy about the refugees being here. Many German people are worried about their safety…afraid a terrorist attack is just around the corner.”

  “And rightfully so,” Kevin added, “but then what do I know. I’m just a camera man. Not my concern.”

  “It’s a story that needs to be told, however, so I’m going to stay on it.” Arianna snapped her notebook shut. “Let’s go through the video and begin to organize the segments I might use for a broadcast. As soon as I have enough material, I want to be ready to go on air with the story, so let me see what you filmed.”

  A FLASH of lightning and clap of thunder woke Arianna from a deep sleep. Rain pelted the window and wind whistled around the building. She loved sleeping in a thunderstorm. Wrapped up in a cozy down comforter and nestled between luxurious percale sheets, she felt safe as the storm raged outside.

  Sleep did not return quickly, however, and her thoughts wandered to Zach. God, how she ached to have his arms around her at this moment. She ran her hands up and down her body, across her breasts, down her belly, touching everywhere…wishing it could be Zach caressing her, comforting her at this moment.

  Outside, the cacophony of the storm matched the discordant feelings raging inside her over Zach’s absence. Was he safe, she wondered? Did he think of her? Did he miss her as much as she missed him? When would she see him again? Funny. Before she met Zach, she had never once anguished over the absence of anyone in her life. Her job had always been enough, but now, her priorities had changed. Two loves in her life, at odds with each other. Her career and Zach. Could she have both? Would she have to choose some day? Only time would answer that question.

  “WE’RE LATE.” Arianna dashed around puddles of water to get into the waiting car. The group was on its way to meet with Monica Friedland, contributing editor of the magazine Der Spiegel.

  “I barely slept last night.” Arianna hurriedly applied make-up as they drove to their appointment. “That storm kept me awake.” She snapped her compact shut and blotted her lipstick. “I look like hell, but that’s what happens when you oversleep.”

  Kevin shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. “I fail to see what the problem is. You look fine, Arianna. This is only an interview not a major deal.”

  “Ha, an interview we might use later on a broadcast, and here I’ll be with bags under my eyes, and my hair sticking up every which way.”

  They pulled up to the office of Der Spiegel. Looking out the window, Arianna saw protestors marching in front of the building. “Wow, wonder what is going on here.”

  Dan Miller said, “I’m not sure, but I’ll make a path through the protestors, and Raul, you and Kevin usher Arianna through the crow
d. I don’t think there’s any threat to us, but we might get bumped around a bit. Everyone ready?”

  Raul nodded and the group exited the car and made their way to the front entrance, Miller in the lead, and Kevin and Raul on each side of Arianna. They rushed inside without incident and made their way to a security check point.

  “I’m with CNS news.” Arianna showed her press pass. “We’re here to see Monica Friedland.”

  They walked through the security scanner and were met on the other side by a woman who introduced herself as Frau Friedland’s secretary. “Good morning, Ms. Garrett. Please follow me.”

  When they arrived at the door of Friedland’s office, Miller stopped and said, “I’ll be down there in the break room having coffee,” he said pointing down the hall. “Come get me when the interview is over.”

  Raul rolled his eyes. Some protector he is.

  The group proceeded into the office and was greeted by a tall, thin blond woman in her early forties. “Guten morgen. Ich bin Monica. Sprechen sie deutsch?”

  “Nein. No, I’m sorry, Frau Friedland,” Arianna said, “only English, but this is Barry. He can interpret for us.”

  “No need, Ms. Garrett. I speak English.”

  “Very well then,” Arianna said, turning to Barry. “You can wait outside. I’ll send for you if I need you.”

  “Let’s sit over here, shall we?” Monica motioned to a sitting area in her office. When they were all seated, she said, “I’ve done some checking, Ms. Garrett.”

  “Please, call me Arianna.”

  “Arianna then, and please call me Monica. As I was saying, I’ve done some checking, and I see you’ve established a name for yourself by covering some really gutsy stories. I like that in a reporter. How can I help you?”

  Arianna pulled out the magazine article with the picture of the protester with the sign that read, Rapefugees nicht willkommen. “I saw this article in your magazine. We’ve not heard much about this in the States. I believe it’s a story worth covering, but I need your help getting the facts about what is going on.”