The woman in front of Hart was the one who had experienced the heat of battlefield, had tasted the enemy's blood on the tip of her tounge but strangely, he did not feel any of those in her. In an expensive custom made uniform alongside with a slender body and a pretty face, Kayle Wilson seemed like a model from military posters that Hart had seen when he was young enough to believe to believe that was what he would get when joining the army.
The army had no shortage of women, and Hart had to give a grudging respect to these people because a few of them had proved that this type of profession was not exclusive for male only. Task force 22 had four female officers. Two of them were curently worrking at the medical room, the rest served as information analyst and commucator and if he remembered correctly, the commander of Northeast Asian carrier battle group two years ago was also a woman. However, Hart did not once stand side by side with a female colleague on the battlefield as well as training female for combat.
Unconfirmed, unpredictable and dangerous, General Campell said so to senate and Hart mutually agreed. History has never recorded a military fingure who won a war by putting women on the front line and the question was why they have to choose a new and risky path while the old one still proved useful?
"Major Wilson, is the Lieutenant General still doing well?"
"Yes ... I suppose, Colonel." She nodded even though it seemed a bit reluctant.
"If it's convenient, please send him my best regards." He glanced at Emerson and signaled him to sit down, "I heard he said that you come to me with important information so I will go straight to the point ..."
That was just enough for greeting. Hart did not like going too deeply into other people's private lives as well as being looked into his.
"Why should I believe you?"
A bit rude, but necessary. Although the chance of Kayle Wilson come here to lie to him wasn't high, the experience of thirty-year fighting still reminds him that a successful reconnaissance was always a prerequisite for a victorious battle. Besides, playing cat and mouse with a beautiful woman was truly a blessing on such gloomy days.
"You still haven't heard me say anything, C... "
"Maybe I don't need to." He cut her off "We all know how trustworthy your friends at Langley are, right?"
"They're not my friends." Kayle Wilson hissed through her teeth. "I've never seen them as my friends, Colonel."
Hart was very poor at reading people's feelings, unless it was anger. He thought it was the only emotion that people could hardly fake and if this woman was really acting, she should get an Oscar nomination.
"Really? So explain to me why a woman like you can easily avoid the certain prison sentence. Damn you didn't have to go to the court "He slowly pushed a prepared document to her. "With this thing alone is enough for you to sleep in the cell for a long time. "
Major Wilson glanced at the document for a moment and then pushed it back toward him, her mouth formed a ghosyly smile.
"I think that anyone of us could make some mistake sometwhere in our lives."
It also depends on how you is to define mistake.
"Well, I'll see that you had made a mistake a little more than you should have," Hart looked to Emerson "Did he tell you that I hate the CIA?"
"He did warned me that."
" And what he warned you about me? "
"With all due respect, Colonel, "she grinned," that is not necessary "
"Good. Then this is all you get "the Colonel raised three fingers in the air "If you dare to trick me or I suddenly see you being thorn in my sight, the door is over there"
She ultilized her three minutes with surprisingly perfect communication skills. Words were carefully chosen to get the listener to the main issue as quickly as possible, but still did not overwhelm them. Hart realized that Kayle Wilson was not surprised by his attack. Like most people who had been working for Langley, she was always well prepared for any situation. A rare type of soldier, Hart admitted, and it also explained the reason CIA let her hold the position of second commander of Spectre for all these years.
But Hart didn't invite her here to just praise the presentation skills or the employing skills of the people he hated. She was her to help him find an answer to the question that had been in his head many days ago.
"It is only one reason for Japan to increase the number of troops in the Special Region" Kayle Wilson said. "They are having trouble with the security on the other side of the Gate. I think you understands how hard it is to control a land that has just been won, Colonel. "
" How many? "
" Yesterday was two companies belonging to special armies, heavy weapons I guess could is a paratrooper or marines. JSDF also sent a task force but I'm not sure which unit they are. "
Hart leaned back in his chair, his hand squeezing the wrinkled forehead:
" This is the third time in a month. In total ... about how much, Emerson? "
"At least five hundred and seventy JSDF soldiers have passed through the gate since we sent men there to keep an eye on it." Emerson took out a notebook and began to read "On September 15, two hundred and fifty soldiers from infantry battalion. No. 8 Kanto region. On September 23, eight tanks with about one hundred people. It has not been determined whether the truck fleet will pass through the Gate on the 22nd and 23rd, carrying people or equipment. "
"No more further investigation needed! We've already known their motives. "Hart raise his hand." I want you to make a call to Flint and tell him to give us some Barretts, increase the number of 50 cal ammo for each Humvee to six boxes, armor piercing rounds and incendiary included. I don't care there are giants, dinosaurs or vampires out there. If they dare to attack the convoy, I want them to be blown to pieces immediately. "
"Yes, Colonel" Emerson stood up, nodded his head before stepping out of the door, leaving Hart alone with Kayle Wilson in the room.
Hart stood up to the window. On the outside, the leaves on the tree opposite his office had mostly fallen, leaving only a few dull brown-yellow reclining clinging to the lowest branches. Far away, dark clouds completely dominated the northern sky and only God could stop the west block from being submerged by the rain again.
When the Colonel attempted to close the window, a long blue-and-white slit suddenly appeared on the dark sky, followed by a few seconds after, a dull explosion like the sound of a cannon breaking into space. Oh no! That was not the sound of cannon.
It came closer . He dreamily remembers the old wooden house. The roar of the lion.
What a horrible way to comfort a child. It caused him to be afraid of lions for a long time, at least until Hart discovered that humans were the most terrifying predators.
"You've already known it."
And you have underestimated me, girl.
"I have a supervising team staying at the hotel three hundred meters away from the Gate" Hart said, his eyes was still on the darkened sky afar "Close enough to observe who or what go through it, but still far enough for the Japanese to not sniff us out. "
He planned to set up a surveillance team on the Gate about a month ago, after Emerson accidentally had some information on the JSDF's unusual movement at the East Asia Headquarters. But planning was one thing , doing it was another story. Hart could not simply send his men to do the task because no matter how convincing he was, Admiral Flint insisted on not approving. The Admiral stressed that a military operation like this could not be done on the basis of suspicion but Hart acknowledged the risk of a diplomatic crisis if their men were arrested for espionage was certainly the main reason making Flint faltered.
Flint recently look more like an old lion who has lost all his teeth. It seemed that the entire decade of the socializing and attending those silly parties had worn away his courage.
This pushed Hart into a difficult position because he could not rely on the Naval Intelligence who originally opposed his plan from the beginning and even if they agreed, Flint would sooner or later found out. Moreover, He had long suspected their competence for such task,
When there was no option left, Hart had to rely on Emerson's resourceful talent and was not disappointed with the decision. The old friend gave him an irrefutable idea:
"If we can't use the resources of the Army, why don't we use external sources?"
Currently the team consists of two veterans currently living in Japan and a New York police inspector who was on vacation, of course they were all introduced by Emerson and paid by his unit's budget for unofficial operation. It was even weirder when all three people met the criteria that he proposed as if they were sent by God to help him out. Two veterans, Norman and Ricardo had served in the sniper reconnaissance company, which was very adept at remote tracking, while police inspector Jeff Longman not only spoke fluently Japanese but he also was an analyzer and an expert at tailing and investigating.
"I have a wider connection than you think."
Emerson said that when Hart asked him the question and this was not the first time that happened. Whether it was Panama, Iraq, or Africa, Emerson always knows how to find the right person for the job. The pointers never lure them into ambush, the messenger always finishes the task and the mercenaries who are famous for being changing sides like clothes were always brave and loyal. Many people would think Hart was blessed by God himself but he never believed it. If that's the case, Why did God sank the ferry on Redwood Lake that day and turned him into an orphan.
"You know everything but ..." Kayle Wilson hesitated. The astonishment was clear in her eyes. "Why didn't you stop them? Why? "
So this is why you came here to see me?
"You think I can stop them?"
"You are Poker!"
Hart laughed, but it was dark and cynical. "Are you really that naive, Wilson? I could hardly believe the difference between the person on the file and the one in front of me right now. "
Hart only could put all the blame on himself. He should have dismissed the Legend of Poker, the "Number One Hero in America", "The Old Blood" from the very beginning or at least prevented Emerson from deliberately spreading it. Soldiers seeking confidence and courage in their commanding officers, Hart knew that but a self-respecting man should not take the titles he himself felt he was not worthy of.
Sighing, Hart closed the window and returned to his desk. In front of him was an officer with a storm of emotions. Angry, scared and surprised. You did not anticipate this situation, did you?
"Let me tell you one or two thing about poker," Hart calmly said, his fingers laced together "No matter how well you may play, the house will always be the winner."
If not then Las Vegas would be left with nothing but a barren land. And when the house was the most powerful man in the world, every card will always have the same number, the same color.
"Why did you agree to meet me?" Her voice was harsh. "I have said everything I knew, I gave you warnings and what did you do?Throw them in the trash! "
When Kayle Wilson had just finished speaking, the lion let out another roar. This time it was bigger than the previous one and the lightning was close enough to print the shadow of the thin tree all over the room. For a moment, it looked like the black hand of a cruel demon trying to grab the two of them.
The woman put her hands on the edge of the table and slowly stood up. Now he noticed that her hair was honey blonde like the color of lion mane and different from the bright ash blonde hair of Emerson and those blue eyes would be very beautiful if they weren't flooded with anger.
"I am really fucking stupid to come over here!" She said curtly and stood up, "Good day, sir!"
Hart slammed his fist hard on the pine wood table, so strong that it made coffee in the cup splashed on the milky pages.
"Stay where you are, Wilson! Do I need to remind who are you talking to? "He growled." Don't ever speak to me with that tone again. Sit down! "
The major didnt say anything, just stared at him.
"You can only leave here when I give you permission, do you understand?"
"Of course I do, sir" She answered with an cold attitude, almost mocking him before sitting down. "How can i help you, my dear Colonel?"
Hart knew that rank and mere whip would not be enough to tame this lioness. Kayle Wilson wasnt't the usual type of hot-blood officer who was always impulsive with her superiors. She had been a member of Spectre and no matter what they said about this unit, that name still had some meaning. When someone get involved with the CIA's black ops but still survived to tell the tale, the person couldn't be counted as some random grunt anymore. If Hart wanted to win this battle, he must use his trump card.
"Do you know the so-called Inversed Situation?"
"Isn't that the reason why I'm here?"
The inverse situation was a term derived from escort mission. In the most ideal condition, each VIP would have three guards, but if the ratio was reversed, the inverse Situation was officially established.
"Now the ratio is almost 1 on 3" He sighed "Losing some people before reaching the safe zone should be expected, even the possibility of the convoy went missing or worse wasn't out of our expectations. . As you can see, it is very likely that this is a one-way mission even if I send the best guy so ... "
He took a paper from the stack of document on the table and put it in front of the tablet Major:
"I will sympathize if you want to withdraw."
"You mean ..."
Hart raised his hand to stop her, then said, "Article 45, Section K, the US Army stipulates that if an officer in command think his subordinates don't have mental or health ability to complete the task, he can write a petition to exclude him / her from that task within a week after being appointed. "
Hart picked up the pen and slowly wrote each sentence while observing his opponent's reaction, the thing he did hundreds of times but only on the front, not in a four-square-meter room.
"After a considerable of time, for many subjective and objective reasons, Major Kayle Wilson did not perform well on the task she was assigned and compromised the quality of the whole unit." He said out lound "In the order I propose Okinawa base to receive and re-train Major Wilson. "
"This is just a petition." She looked at him suspiciously. "And you are not my commanding officer."
"I will sign my name on this paper and make a call to Headquarters so you can get a ticket out of here tomorrow. If it didn't work, Emerson would call your father and tell him to fly over to make it happen. Trust me, Wilson. Although i can't stop the train, i still has the power to decide who will sit on it. And when you are safe in Okinawa with a nice dish of grilled squid, your long sandy beaches and your barbeque stall, I would look for another corpse to take your place. "
Kayle Wilson's face turn pale as she heard him mention" Corpse "
It's time to throw a decisive blow.
"A young officer who are looking for a chance to make a name for himself seems to be a good choice. Such people are always overflowing with enthusiasm but too hasty so I want an older, more experienced person to take on the task. What do you think about Emerson? "
" No! "
That was what she could say, her voice was so trembling and weak to the point it was unbelievable. Hart feel like the Spectre commander had gone away and standing in front of him was just a little girl, no more no less.
"You can't do that."
"I can and I'll. In fact, Emerson himself proposed to be a military attaché from the beginning but i didnt understand why they decided it was going to be you. A mistake that we will fix right now. He wanted to do this while you don't so I have no reason not to let the two of you satisfied. "
Hart quickly put his pen tip on the bottom of the page where his signature was supposed to be. He had a habit of writing Hart into Heart, so perhaps that was how the legend of Poker was born.
"Now you're free" He looked at her " The lives of those men and women no longer have anything to do with you. You can go, Major Wilson. "
Everything after that went on as Hart had expected. Kayle Wilson grabbed the paper in his hand and tore it into piecies at the moment when Emerson returned from the communication room. A triumphant smile appeared on the face of the Colonel.
"What's wrong?" Hart's old friend rolled his eyes and looked at the scraps of paper scattered on the floor. "It is not the time, is it?"
"No. Nothing serious, it's just that Major has just gotten rid of some of some papers I don't need" Hart calmly turned to look at her with a thoughtful look. "Why don't you go out and make a cup of coffee when I talk to my man? "
She immediately stood up with fire in her eyes and headed toward the door, not saying a word to him or Emerson.
"On your left." He said "Don't go through the cafeteria unless you're planning to go swimming and ... "
BAM !
The door was closed with a tremendous force, making it seem like it wanted to break out of the hinge. Hart patiently kept silent and waited for her footsteps to slowly fade in the rain outside, then he let out a soft sigh:
"You really know how to choose the time, Emerson."
"I suppose our plan has success." Emerson removed his glasses from his nose and wiped the rainwater from the glass with a small handkerchief "It's a pity that I wasnt here to witness how you did it."
" Your plan, not mine. "He shook his head." No one can claim the movie is his child except the director. "
"Don't be too modest, Hart. You decided to play the leading role in this drama because you recognized the value of her, and I was here just to serve as a background for you. The stage is your, Colonel "
Hart ignored the old friend's formal way of speaking. "Whatever you say. But I have something to ask you. "
"What is it? "
"How do you know Wilson will agree to join the team in fear of your safety? When I mentioned that I would replace her with you, everything happened like you had said. She was literally shaking in front of me."
"Well that's not too hard to be honest ." Emerson slowly put on his glasses. "Kayle will never do that if she doesn't think I'm going to commit suicide for real. Just a little chit chat would do the trick althought It was a bit unfair to the little Katty, she trusted me anyway. But for your plan to succeed, there was no other option. If I have a chance, I will apologize and explain it to her later."
.
.
KAYLE V
"So you say Amit Musab lost his life because of a Xbox?"
John "Rudy" Cotton sat on two bullet caskets stacked on top of each other, his left hand holding half eaten fried chicken thighs , laughing to the unbelievable death of Amit Musab . It was a pain to hear the guy he had spent two years tracking died in such a way.
"If the person talking is not you, I don't dare to believe it, Major."
Rudy greedily took a large bite on the chicken thighs and chewed. The grease clinged to his black, shaggy beard, on his fingers and the back of his hand. This was the third chicken leg since they started talking about Amit Musab and if you include the bones on the plate, this must be the fifth or sixth.
"Done!" Rudy said and threw the last bone out the window. "My father said eating a lot will make a man taller and healthier. He was quite disappointed when I only have half of his appetite, couldn't become a giant and then lost the national weightlifting championship. 'If you will eat more then it would be different' my father said so. '
Rudy wasn't really a giant but he endowed with a wide chest and big arms as strong as cold steel. His voice was like a big cooper bell ringging in a cold day, a feature of men from the northwest of the United States. It was said that the people around the Rocky Mountains got such unique voice from sweet ginger candy that they ate to warm themselves in cold winter morning and when they laugh, the snow on the mountain would melt.
"Did you tell Chieftain about this?"
"Chieftain?"
"It's Hart's nickname. After he heard Amit Musab was dead, he promised to reward the hero who pull the trigger. "
Hart rewarded Kayle by taking Emerson hostage to force her to join this one way mission and then ordered her to go to the operation room to wait for nearly half an hour without even explaining a word. He infuriated Kayle, but she resented herself more than Hart.
There was no word could described her stupidity when she thought Poker could put a stop to all thing. He had not been able to win the White House and Pentagon's trust for decades now if only by turning down their plans. Hart Sayer would complete the assigned task with the lowest casualties as possible. It wasn't exaggeration to say, to the above officials, he was no different from the fairy godmother before the ball. And even if Hart intended to stop this, would it do any good? They would pushed him aside and get another man in his place, just like the way he intended to fill her empty seat with Emerson.
If a stone breaks, they will replace it with another stone and then the temple will stand firm for a thousand years.
Kayle remembered that she had read this somewhere while studying with Sobel. The teacher with the big nose was usually overreacted every time his thousands years old Latin verses could be applied to a real-life situation. Then He would tell Louie that he read Latin so well that it could be music to people ear and turned to look at her like looking at a bug and said :
"I see you have not improved at all. It's disappointing. "
No! Now it wasn't the time to think about him? She has many things to solve right now. First of all was finding out why that old Hart told her to wait here.
"How much longer do I have to wait?" She asked Rudy.
"Wait for what, Major?"
"When will your Chieftain come? We have been waiting for almost half an hour. "
"How do I know?" Rudy shugged. "He didn't tell me anything about that"
Are you fucking kidding me?
"This is the tactical room where you guy meet and come up with a plan for the mission in special region, right?"
"Well...Yes, i guess."
"So there is only one reason for him to told me to come here, right? If that's not the case, what are you doing here? "
"Ah, so you want to know about those meeting. "The big man lazily yawning," We had that kind of meeting yesterday, all shouting and no decision was made. And about why me coming here? The cafeteria has been flooded so I have no place to eat except this place. Colonel, with all respect I have for that man, he is really a dick when it come to sanitary. A few days ago, he gritted his teeth and said that anyone who mistook the administrative area for the kitchen would have a ticket home. "
Damn it!
If she knew that it would turn out like this, she would not drag her ass over here. It was kinda weird because everyone seemed to love throwing shit at Kayle today. The persistent rain outside made her mood even worse, but it was still nothing compared to Rudy's stupid story about his mother's stupid jam, bacon and grilled salmon. This man doesn't care about anything but eating .
"When did your team leave the base?"
Based on the dirt on the floor, she guessed at least six people were here this morning. Some foot print was still quite new and dry so at the time when they entered this room, the sky was still clear, which was inherently impossible after two o'clock in the afternoon. From the moment she arrived in Shino Hill, Kayle hadn't t seen any members of Task Force 22 except Rudy and if they were not in this room, there was only one possibility left.
"How did you ... Well, I forgot that you was from Spectre" Rudy sighed. " Anyway, They went down to the forest below the hill to practice this early morning. Captain Jerry wants us to know each other well enough before going to the Special Region. "
Jerry? Oh yeah, it's him.
It turned out that the person they chose was the Jackal, Jeremy Blackwood. Kayle didn't know much about him but if what she heard was true, Jackal was a very dangerous man to deal with. There was a Taliban leader in Helmand was read to pay $ 1 million for Jerermy's head after losing nearly half of his men by his hand. No one knew the details of this crazy hunt except that the Jackal welcomed those who wanted to kill him with an ambush with machine guns and grenades under the blazing sun of July afternoon. Sixty-five corpses were found on the field, including that Taliban leader. It was rumored that he was shot by Jeremy himself at very close range, so close that it looked more like an execution than a stray bullet during a battle. Whether it was true or not, it wasnt that important because since then, the name "Jackal" alone could strike fear into the heart of many men.
"But you didn't go with them."
"I don't have to" He answered "I was standing side by side with each one of them but basically, they were still strangers to each other. We had changed so much after returning to the homeland. Many people either retired or find themselves a desk job so the Colonel had no choice but to assemble the remnants to create temporary combat teams while recruiting new people. In the past we had six combat teams and a support unit but what about now? Not enough people to form a proper team for the convoy! "
Rudy touched the beard under his chin and sighed. It seemed that witnessing the thing that could be considered as second home, source of pride becoming the shadow of its former self was very difficult for many. Fortunately, Kayle was not affected by that thought.
"Even the assignment of Jerry was nothing but a controversial topic. I think you are well- awared that where his reputation comes from. Jerry is a Jackal and not a Shepherd Dog. "
Kayle had heard Roland said that he got that name because of his preference for the thing called "Solo Mission" in enemy territory with limited support. Once he had successfully infiltrated, the jackal will frantically attack any prey he saw. His list of targets was random, ranging from low-level warriors, drug dealers to big fishes like local warlord or militant leaders. At first he was just like a pain in the ass, but as always, it would be swollen and people began to realize that the sheep would never sleep in peace if there was a Jackal roaming around.
Seal said The Jackal was a mad man, SOCOM listed him as an rebelious, willd, lose cannon type of soldier in the special force's world but few people noticed that every time the Taliban focused all his attention on him, they would forget the American infantry battalions that would enter Hindu Kush a few weeks later.
To be fair, Jeremy Underwood wasn't the right person for the job but after all, he was still a skilled warrior with a nose that can smell all the dangers. Perhaps this was why Hart chose him, a man accustomed to fighting overwhelmingly forces and survive in all harsh conditions.
"As long as he knows how to bark and bite, I don't see any problems here." Kayle said, "I wonder if he is as good as the rumor say."
"You will see soon," Rudy glanced at his watch on his hairy arm "They maybe on the way back right now."
It takes about five minutes for Jackal and his unit to reach the base. Kayle and Rudy heard the sound of engine coming out of the gate as she shared with him the Japanese cigarette packs under the makeshift eaves of Block E. In the rain, she saw the hazy image of a olive painted military truck that slowly passing through the security post, the raindrops fell on it's rubber cover as it passed them and stopped in front of the Hart's headquarters about twenty meters away.
The seven colored pocho raincoats jumped out from the trunk one after another, assault rifles peeked beneath them.
"Who is Jerry?" Kayle asked. They look exactly the same at this distance.
Rudy narrowed his eyes and gave her an uncertain answer :
"I think it's the third person on the left, the guy with the Boonie. Jerry is taller than all of us but lower than Edd "
And it seems Rudy was correct. Everyone listened attentively to every word from the person wearing Boonie before dismissing under his command. Then he turned to the two of them and slowly walked closer with the inherent caution of a predator.
"Hello Cap" Rudy gave a wide smile and nudged Kayle on the shoulder. "Speak of the devil right?."
Jeremy Blackwood was not a devil, but he wasn't Gariel either. He was an mid- thirty-year-old man with pale skin under a wet boonie, deep eye sockets, split chin and razor-sharp look.
"Is this the commander of Spectre?" He said with a cold voice like the air around here and so impolite that he didn't even bother to tell them who he was talking to.
"Former commander" Kayle replied "Specter is no longer exist."
"Whatever " He turned to the Sergeant and ordered "You will be in charge of the projector"Then he looked at Kayle "And you follow me."
"Hey..Wait a ..."
Jeremy Underwood had no intention of listening her finish that sentence. With a slightly crude cough, he arrogantly strode inside. The pocho covered with rainwater and mud of his accidentally struck her, leaving a long stain of dirt on the uniform that cost more than a thousand dollars.
" What a warm welcoming!" She shook her head bitterly. "It seems like everyone in the base hates me for some reason"
"Captain doesn't like strangers, but you should not think of it much. When he gets used to your smell, he'll be different. "
I won't let him smell all over me.
When she entered, the Jackal sat right at the head of the table, next to M4. Raincoat and duck-ear hat were thrown into a corner. He gave Kayle a strange look and it makes her think immediately of the CIA agent who cause her so much pain, Pattrick Hammer.
"Colonel told me to give you an update on our situation." He jerked, "I don't understand what the old man is thinking. It's totally a waste of time. "
That's it. I have enough of this bullshit. She could endure Hart's insistence, finding out that she herself was as cheap as a pawn on a chessboard but this was the final line.
"Do you have a problem with me? What is this time for? "Kayle shouted," Spectre or you can't stand when a woman has higher rank than you? " I know you guys are not sympathetic to the people of CIA but believe me, I don't love them more than you do."
Outbursting was never her style and it even wasn't a good call in this case. Jeremy or Jackal like they love to call him, wasn't a man that could be easily intimidated or provoked. The fact that he didn't bite back as she expected he would was bad enough but like adding salt to the wound, he just stared at her with a strange asmusement.
"I mean wasting your time, not mine. "He calmly replied" Ready, Rudy? "
" Wait a sec, Captain "The sergeant plugged the projector's cord connecting with the laptop." Can I turn off the light? "
Jeremy nodded in agreement and the light was off. A strange image gradually appeared on the screen, Kayle saw blue winding lines on a dark brown background with black and small dots scattered on it, accompanied by strange Latin letters in the left corner.
Far ... Falmal? A meaningless word, she guessed it was a name.
It took Kayle a moment to realize that what she was looking at was a map but it was indeed, an unusual map. There are no meridians, latitudes or levels on it while the drawing was no doubt a work of elementary school student. Cornering culminated when areas that seemed to be forested land were marked with dozens of tiny, small trees, and three towers clustered together could be the sign of a town or city, Kayle said it was because she noticed that many of them were connected by the crossroads.
"What joke is this?" She walked closer to the screen. "It looks worse than the treasure map I drew when I was ten years old."
"Here is the file number 114, map of Falmal continent " Jeremy Blackwood said, "And is our official map when we go to the Special Zone."
Kayle burst out laughing. "You really have a sense of humor, people told me you don't know how to joke. "
But Kayle's smile did not last for long. The serious face of the Jackal and Rudy shows that this was no joke. They are telling the truth, Kayle senses it. A terrible and unbelievable truth but the truth no matter what.
Hart didn't exaggerate when calling this a one-way mission. It was predictable that the security team would lack firepower, manpower or plans to deal with arising situations, but Kayle never expected them to do all their job with a blindfold.
"They'd better shoot us in the head," cried Kayle. "Does anyone explain to them how crazy this is?"
"The Colonel said exactly the same thing. " Jeremy leaned one hand on the table and rolling his eyes around. "And they don't seem to have much effect."
This guy was no better than Patt at mocking her, but Kayle didn't have time for such things anymore. She was now part of the team and if she wants to return to home in one piece, she must learn to live with people like him.
"What do you need?"
"A plan," he said. "A very good plan that help us avoid getting killed out there. Keep going, Rudy! "
The Sergeant nodded and after only a few clicks, another image appeared. Also the old map but the slace has been narrowed around the central area of the so-called "Falmal Continent", along with a curved line linking two points named "Alnus" and "Sadera" together.
"The starting point will be Alnus hill and our final destination is Sadera, the capital of the Empire. But to get there, we have to travel a long way through plains, towns, midlands, and mountain areas if this map is somewhat accurate. "
Not good , Kayle thought. If they had no specific detail on terrain, they were very easy to put themselves in a dangerous situation. Just a river branch, a forest or an unexpected valley that suddenly appeared would make thing went south faster than anyone expect and the whole team would be like fish in the barrel.
"Normally I will tell you to put everyone on the Chinook and fly straight to Sadera but I guess it doesn't seem like an option anymore. Is there anything else? "
"Not much. "Jeremy shook his head." Except that most roads in the Special Region are dirt roads and bridges across the river are not designed for any vehicles weight over three tons. So the East Asian H.Q suggest us to borrow the Marines an AAV to carry ammunition and necessities. "
A big fat buffalo in the back of the convoy was the last thing they needed. The prospect of chewing on the protein bar for a weeks to come was not very attractive to anyone, even to people like Jackals, but it seems this was the difficult option they have to choose. The more time they spend on the road mean more ammunition would be used and more of them would die. Speed was the key.
"A bad plan!" The jackal gritted his teeth. "Hart doesn't like it, I don't like it, but the geniuses at the Headquarters and the Department of State, as usual, think this is a good idea. Those idiots probably can't distinguish an RV from an AAV. "
"What is your plan, Captain? "Kayle asked.
Jeremy looked thoughtfully at the map, rubbed the bridge of his nose and said,
"Four Land Rover, two Humvees, basic equipment, moving during the day and resting for six hours after the sunset. It may take about a week or a little more to reach Sadera. Cant say for sure cause even the Japanese didn't travel to the Captial on road and the Romalia moutain look like a tough son of bitch if what they told us was the truth .Anyway I did manage to cross Hindu Kush and back to Afganishtan with the same formation so we can make it "
But that was only true for Jeremy, the notorious soldier with the nickname Jackal and member of Task force 22 who could drink goat's blood and eat their boots to survive . Kayle wasn't sure if Celie or Norton or Dominic would survive more than half the journey in that condition. For these people, when Plan A was screwed, it also mean there would be no plan B or C.
"And what will you do if one of the Humvee suddenly was broken, one of the crew is injured or ... "Kayle felt that it was not right to mention death here." Or we got lost, with a map like this, it would be sooner or later. They aren't soldier, captain. They wont survive a week out there. We need to scout the terrain and make a detailed plan for each day. "
"And where are you going to get the necessities for ativities of your, Lady? We don't have a supply aircraft, no air support, AAV is too slow, and trucks can't cross the bridge. "
Though a little annoyed when she was called "Lady", Kayle had to admit that there was somewhat truth in what he just had said. Things like food, ammunition and fuel were holes in her plan. With food, it could be improvised but thing like bullets and gasoline ...
"JSDF will help us." Kayle replied,"They have facilities and outposts in the Special Region."
"JSDF?" He smirked "Oh, I see. Colonel haven't told you that, right?"
" Tell me what? "
"There will be no help from Japanese or I can put it this way, we had officially refuse any help from them. "
Kayle was stunned. This madness followed another madness with no reason at all. Was this the foolishness of man or God's will? She had never been a believer like her mother wanted, so she didn't have much trust in the thing so-called fate and it was hard to imagine the White House making such a disastrous decision. Strange it might sound, she had more reason to believe they wanted to push their people to death.
"When?" Kayle asked him, "Why didn't I hear anyone say anything about that?"
Maybe that foxy Patt hid the truth from her or he himself didn't know anything about it but Kayle was somewhat inclined to believe the later. Thinking back and forth, it was quite unusual for him to allow her to see Hart. Working time under the CIA for a considerable time taught her that people like Patt never acted on improvisation.
"This morning, news from the H.Q. Who is the decision maker and why I'm not sure why, so don't ask anything else. "
Obviously something is going on . The press conference in the morning was a humorous segment of a Greek tragedy. In Tokyo they can embrace, shake hands and laugh in front of a camera but in a certain room in Washington, the hunting season has really begun.
"We will do it my way." Jeremy decided. "I presented it to the Colonel yesterday and he agreed. This is the most feasible option unless you hide some card under your sleeve, Wilson. "
Under the sleeve, huh?
An idea flashed in her mind, an idea that wasn't bad at all in this situation. Roland and her had done it once back in Mosul, though it wasn't very successful, but it was worth a try. Anyway, it was more positive option compared to Jeremy's " improvisation" strategy.
"If I remember correctly, there is a small town in Alnus Hill set up by the Special Region residents?" Kayle pretended to ask him, "And it has become a bridge between our world and their? "
Jeremy Underwood looked at her with a puzzled look.
"Refugee camp" He corrected her "Under the control of the JSDF but in name only because the Japanese gave them administrative autonomy from the beginning. But why did you ask anyway? Don't tell me you're going to hire those random local to carry our supplies on horse carriages. "
You're underestimating me, dear Jackal.
"You're not wrong, I do wants those random primitives transporting supplies for us, but you know what Jerry, when and how they do it is all what I care for"
When she finished , Jeremy Underwood looked like a Greyhound who sniffed the smell of chicken in the bush. He understood her mean. Kayle felt relief, at least the Jackal was not a dull like most of grunt she met.
"Is this ... possible?" He looked up at the map again. "If there is a place where we can resupply every two hundred miles, I will have three, no, four of them before reaching the outskirts of Sadera but how can you guarantee that the food and fuel are not stolen before we can use it? "
" JSDF will make sure it doesn't happen so… "
" Didn't I just say that Japanese are not allowed to help?" He impatiently interrupted her. "It is against the White House's orders, we are not allowed to ask them ..."
"And that's exactly what I'm going to do, Jerry." Kayle smiled as she sat down. "As a matter of fact, I didn't use any of the JSDF's resources. We simply hire the local to transfer our stuff but It is not our job to check who they hire to do the job as well as what kind of guard they use to protect the goods "
So the card was swapped, the scam was completed, but as any magician who ever lived, she could perform alone. She needed more than one help. It took ten seconds for Jeremy to digest all of that, but for Rudy it must be a little longer.
"What are you two talking about?" The Sergeant asked blankly, "Why would JSDF allowed the local to hire their men?"
Kayle laughed at Rudy's innocence and it made his face turn red with embarrassment, many people tried very hard but their minds were always on the trigger.
"What do you think, Captain?"
She asked him, Jeremy Blackwood, The man who was called the Jackal, the terror of the Hindu Kush.
"Colonel wasn't wrong about you, Kayle Wilson" He answered with strange interest in his eyes "Rudy!" Run up to Hart's room and invite him down here. He needs to see this."