The small white jeep slowly worked its way along the main dirt road into the rainforest. Gunny and Mac were dressed in summer issue camouflage and Nate was wearing his Ghillie suit. The other two had camouflage paint on their faces and hands to blend into the background a little better but Nate looked like he had been picked up off the forest floor. Moshe was wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a white oxford style t-shirt, looking in stark contrast to the commando look sport by the other three.
"Alright, this is the place." Mike Bradley pointed out the window to a ditch at the side of the road and the vehicle came to a halt. "The camp is seven miles due northeast from here. You'll pick up tire tracks after the first two miles, keep them to your left and you should come upon the camp after a while. God speed and keep low. Nate and Gunny, have you two got your radios?"
"Check." Nate nodded.
"Check." Gunny affirmed with a nod of his own. The three Marines were climbing out of the vehicle when Moshe caught Nate by the arm.
"If you have the chance, get Al-Bashram alive, but only if you have the chance. If you don't, blow the bastard's brains out." Moshe instructed.
"I understand. You know the deal, right, if I don't make it." Nate looked into his godfather's eyes.
"You were born under a lucky star, you'll make it." Moshe smiled and gave Nate a pat on the shoulder. "But take this to help you get through the bush." Moshe handed Nate a machete blade. "It's an Indonesian Golok blade. It's deadly sharp, my boy, so only use it on a human being if you have no intention of putting them back together." Nate slide the Golok into it's sheathe and looped the sheathe through his belt. "Take care of them, your father would be proud." With that, Moshe fired up the vehicle and turned back toward the safehouse.
Nate, Gunny and Mac stood at the side of the road for a few seconds. "I'll take the lead to clear so vegetation out of our way. Tie up your boots and stick your pant legs in them, the snakes around here are deadly venomous and the last thing we need is one of us going down with no anti-venom within a hundred miles. From here on out, there is nothing outside of the jungle, shoot to kill. If you run out of bullets get creative but remain deadly and don't hesitate." Nate lectured.
"Got it, so, after you, Major." Mac stepped aside.
"Very kind of you, Colonel." Nate was the first to step foot out of the ditch and into the rainforest with Mac and Gunny following fast on his heels. Nate had an Israeli Desert Eagle hung in a holster at his side, a few grenades on his belt and the Golok that Moshe had given him. His M40A1 sniper rifle was forward and at the ready. Gunny had opted for a Marine issue M16 with an Uzi on his belt and his service sidearm along with a few smoke grenades. Mac was carrying on AK-47 and she had another one slung over her back with her service sidearm secured in its holster at her side. Both Gunny and Nate were equipped with headset radios.
The three Marines worked their way through the jungle cautiously, not hacking at the vegetation unless it was absolutely necessary. They remained in guarded, crouched positions as they moved through the rainforest. Dawn was not far off but still darkness cloaked the area around them. Just as Mike had predicted, a set of tire tracks on light brown earth appeared on their left after a few miles. They kept the tire tracks well to their left so as to keep out of a high traffic area for those visiting the camp.
The whole thing had something of a snake quality to it. It was as though they were stalking their prey in the night, their prey unsuspecting that it was even being hunted would not be aware until it was too late and that was how the Marines wanted it. Before they left the safehouse, they had to shed any and all identification that could allow them to be identified as American military personnel. So, now here they were, a little more then three miles from the camp, supposedly and still moving as the night moved from an impenetrable black through ever lightening shades of blue.
The sound of light steady breath was the only sound that was acceptable to them so it was the only sound that they made. Breathing a new life of stealth into their surroundings. Wraiths in the night, they were, hunting a prey that so many of their contemporaries thought unbeatable. They were Marines. After another hour or so, the trees began to thin and Nate raised his scope and checked the distance to the camp. "Looks like eight hundred yards to the farthest point of the camp. The closest part of the clearing is much, much closer. I'll find my post and lob the grenades in; you two take that as your cue." Nate coached only to receive nods from Mac and Gunny.
"We got it, just cover our sixes." Mac returned comment.
"You're talking like your pilot already." Nate smiled and gave Mac a hug before she headed off.
"Been a pleasure serving with you, sir." Gunny held out his fist.
"Not over yet, Gunny." Nate tapped his fist to Gunny's before Gunny went off to join Mac. Gunny and Mac were hiding in a thick grove of trees near the edge of the camp. Both of them had their faces painted in disguise, hiding their usually distinct feature from plain sight. The stark white features of Mac and Gunny's teeth and eyes against the dark green and black of the paint on their faces allowed Nate to be pretty consistently aware of their presence. Nate found an ideal spot on a raised foothill overlooking the camp.
After a few seconds of waiting, the call for morning prayers rang through the camp and men began to come out of the buildings with their prayer rugs and they knelt on the ground and faced toward Mecca. Nate saw this as the perfect opportunity to initiate the operation. He removed the grenades from his belt and pulled the pins on them before lobbing them into the compound amongst the worshipping terrorists. Chaos ensued as carnage racked up from the two blasts so close in proximity. Gunny launched his smoke grenades into the camp to provide himself and Mac with some cover. When he heard the shots of a high powered, Marine issue sniper rifle begin to ring out, he and Mac sprang into action.
Their enemies seemed preoccupied with the sounds of the rifle that was mowing down their colleagues. "Lord, make my shots fast and accurate." Nate prayed quietly as he drew back the bolt to put another bullet in place. He pushed the bolt forward and took aim again. This time catching a terrorist with an automatic weapon in his crosshairs and pulling the trigger to end his life.
Back in the hut, the sounds caused by all the action outside had roused Harm and Peach out of their sleep. "Either our rescue just showed up or the local natives have really been working on their technology." Harm quipped as he cracked the door to the hut to look outside. "Looks like about eight of them were killed in an explosion." Harm looked back at Peach after closing the door. "From what I can see, another two or three have gone down from gunfire so far." Harm sat against the wall next to Peach.
"What do we do?" Peach asked, looking hopefully up at her friend.
"We aren't armed so we can't exactly help out the rescue team. Our only course of action is to sit here and hope they find us. If we go out there, we could get caught in the crossfire or worse, be shot intentionally. In here, we're relatively safe." Harm theorized.
"You hardly seem like the type to just sit around and watch the action happen around you." Peach commented as they moved away from the door.
"Normally, you'd be right. But I'm hurting so I'm not at the top of my game and besides, like I said, we're unarmed, so we're safer in here." Harm put his arm between her and the door. "Just stay here."
Mac and Gunny were making short work of the different small buildings around the camp as they searched looking for Harm and Peach. Mac had Gunny covered as he checked the buildings. She had shot a few people today but as Sherman theorized, war was hell and the climate around here certainly lent toward that metaphor. Feeling no reason to check the big buildings, they merely stuck to anything that was big enough to hold two people in simplicity and discomfort. Mac and Gunny came to another building and prayed that they were at the right one when they heard voices inside. Mac covered Gunny as he kicked the door open.
Up on the hill, Nate was still peering through his scope at the men in the camp, always keeping one watchful eye on Mac and Gunny to keep their position as uncompromised as possible. So far today, he was up to six kills, which would bring the number in his kill book to ninety-three total. The numbers didn't matter anymore, the only thing he could think about was getting everyone out of this neglected corner of the planet, alive…especially Peach. After all, she was the reason that he was here right? The reason that he was risking his life, his sanity and PTSD flashbacks was somewhere in the camp at the base of the hill.
"Gunny!" Harm practically shouted as he saw his friend come through the door. Harm went to get up and hug Gunny but his injuries forced him to the floor again.
"No hello for me, sailor?" Mac questioned with a smile as she came in behind Gunny. Harm's eyes went wide as he saw Mac standing in front of him. Even in a pair of BDUs with camouflage paint on her face, she still looked absolutely gorgeous. Even if it was in a Hippolyta, Queen of the Amazons kind of way.
"Mac!" This time Harm was able to stand as he launched himself into her arms and clung to her for dear life. "What are you doing here?" He whispered into her ear.
"Question Period is later, right now we have to get the two of you out of here and back to safety and civilization." Mac took Harm by the elbow and led him out of the hut with Gunny escorting Peach.
"Who's providing your cover fire?" Harm asked quickly.
"A sniper friend who moonlights as the Secretary of State." Mac deadpanned as they crept around the corner of the building. Mac handed her second AK-47 to Harm after loading a clip into it. "You know how to use this thing, right?"
"Hey, I've been tortured, I haven't had my brain removed." Harm turned the safety off on the gun and raised it. Another high powered round entered the skull of a nearby young Arabic man and the company of four took it as their cue to move back toward the bush.
Up on the hill, Nate Ross was loading another round into his gun and preparing to pick off another target. He was up to twelve kills on the day. That meant that the actions of the three Marines had resulted in the deaths of twenty-five members of the enemy camp this morning. He was searching for a target when he was Mac and the rest of the company coming around the corner of the main building. Nate caught something coming out of the corner of his eye. It was an unfriendly and unfamiliar shape that caught one of the members of the company by the throat and pressed a gun to her temple.
"Peach!" Harm shouted, noting that she had been pulled from the group. Harm, Mac and Gunny all turned their weapons on the remaining terrorist. Just as they did, another armed man came out from between buildings.
"Put your guns down if you want her to live." The man announced to the other three who held their guns steady. "And call out your little friend who is hiding in the bush as well."
"Nate, take the shot." Harm instructed.
"Do and you sign her death warrant." The man threatened. Nate was caught at a crossroads, it was like Preston all over again. Should he take the shot and risk her life or put his rifle down and perhaps save her life. Actually, this was nothing at all like his brother with the exception of his position as a sniper and a loved one on the other end of the scope. Yes, Nate had to face it, in this moment he was forced to confront that fact, he loved her. He had been married but he had never loved a woman more then the one whose life was now in danger.
"Major, that's an order, take the shot!" Harm shouted, in an attempt to end the standoff and Nate found his decision made for him. He couldn't be acting as the Secretary of State on this mission, he had to be acting as a Marine. He focused the crosshairs on the man who had a gun pressed to Peach's head and waited for a space between the now rampant heartbeats.
"One……two……" The man shouted aloud. A shot rang out and dropped his accomplice to the ground in a heap. The last man pulled his gun on Peach but a second shot followed in rapid succession taking off his index finger and sending his gun to the floor. Gunny rushed over to help Peach while Mac and Harm went and stood over the wounded man.
"Three." Mac finished for him as she drew back the hammer on her sidearm.
"Stop!" Nate shouted as he came walking out of the jungle with his rifle slung over his shoulder. "That is Ali Al-Bashram, among the chiefs of the Al Qaeda high command. His roots with Al Qaeda go as far back as the Soviet invasions of Afghanistan and he is even suspected of having been a bodyguard for Ali Hassan Salameh before his assassination in 1979." Nate explained as he joined his comrades. "The Company and the Mossad want him for questioning. So, it is in the best interest of the greater good for us to bring him in for questioning and a few other interesting interrogation activities."
"You want to let this scum live after what he did!" Peach shouted as she came walking over toward Nate.
"Just because he's going to live does not mean that his existence is going to be anything short of the ninth circle of hell on earth." Nate pulled his Ghillie helmet off his head. He looked over at Peach and smiled. "You wouldn't believe how great it is to see your face." Nate put his thumb on her chin as if he were looking her over. "You're relatively unscathed as well." He turned to face Harm. "I suppose that's your doing, since you look like you were run through a wash machine during the spin cycle."
"If you and Mac had switched places with Peach and I, you would have done the same thing." Harm put his hand on Nate's shoulder and the two of them communicated a silent understanding..
"You know I would." Nate affirmed. "I'm not taking him into American custody, I'm transporting him into Israeli custody."
"You do know something about international law after all." Mac chuckled. "If you take him into American custody, you have to treat him within our rules. If you act like an agent for the Israelis, you can do just about anything to him and go unscathed. There is the issue of a State Department official working for the Israelis, it does border on treason."
"What about as a private citizen working as a mercenary in Indonesia?" Nate asked.
"Free within the borders of Indonesian law, basically, don't get caught." Harm answered.
"Alright, Gunny, you take over guard of the prisoner. I'm sure the Mossad agents would love to have a nice talk with him when we get back to the safehouse." Nate smirked with a maniacal tone.
"Mossad!" Bashram screeched from the ground. Nate laughed at the predicament that Bashram had himself in. Being the only one who spoke Arabic, he walked over to Bashram to address him.
"Agent Moshe Goldstein, Israeli Mossad." Nate played up under his godfather's cover. "Surely you must have anticipated that we would catch you eventually, Ali. Or did you think that you would be able to evade us forever?" Nate knelt next to his defeated enemy.
"Jew!" Bashram spat at him. "I may be caught, but Islam lives on and no pathetic Jew will stop that!" Bashram finished and he was answered by a Marine issue combat boot to the teeth.
"You can shut up and play nice for a while or you can get the shit beaten out of you by a Jew and we'll see how well the reputation of mighty Islam holds up against that!" Nate answered in Arabic as he pulled Bashram to his feet. "You see this? This is an Indonesian Gokol, if you decide to try and run from me, I will not hesitate to start indiscriminately removing body parts."
"It is a great honour to die for Allah." Bashram announced.
"That's why I'm not going to kill you." Nate grinned. "Everything short of that however, is fair game. Gunnery Sergeant, get him on his feet; we're expected somewhere imminently." The group began to move across the camp toward the path that they had taken to get to the camp, both Mac and Nate noticed Harm stumbling.
"Are you okay, Harm?" Mac asked, inquiring about his health.
"I'm fine, baby." Harm replied with slurred speech and a coy smile.
"Baby?" Mac mouthed looking at Nate. Nate thought for a second then turned to Peach.
"Has he been experiencing anything weird lately? Nausea? Seizures? Consistent loss of consciousness? Disorientation? Nate asked, impatiently awaiting an answer.
"Aside from the seizures, I've witnessed pretty much everything you said. Why, Nate? What's going on?" Peach asked concernedly.
"Nate, I've only seen these symptoms once before at a field hospital in Bosnia." Mac warned.
"I don't understand, isn't this all from the torture? I mean they did hit him pretty hard with those bamboo canes." Peach was scrambling to have someone explain it to her.
"I know, Mac, I've only seen it a handful of times in hospitals myself. I'll radio in and see if we can't get someone here who can help us with this." Nate reached down and switched over the frequency on the radio. "Condor, this is Hawk, we need a bird here, we have an urgent medical situation, over."
"Hawk, what's your position?" Moshe's voice came back over the radio.
"We are approximately eight miles due northeast of the drop point. Any chance we can get a bird transport in here?" Nate was pressing urgency.
"A bird is on the way, Hawk. Have you got Bashram with you?" Moshe asked.
"That's affirmative, Condor. We have Bashram but one of the former captives is experiencing symptoms that line up with an Alpha Sierra Hotel, over." Nate called in, in an attempt to get more urgent service.
"Roger that, Hawk, your bird is on the way. It'll ferry you guys to Manila where the USS John Kennedy is coming to port for liberty in a few days. You can get it checked out there. Hand Bashram over to my agents and then after we have what information we can get out of him, we'll hand him over to the CIA, agreed?" Moshe was about to cut the transmission.
"All's kosher on this end. Over and out." Nate cut the transmission. "We're headed to Manila, there are people there who can check how Harm's injuries. I pray to God I'm not right and it's just a little battle fatigue but if I'm right, he needs a doctor, ASAP."
"I'm perfectly fine." Harm slurred. "Watch, I'll prove it to you." Harm turned toward Mac, grabbed her around the waist, bent her back and planted a kiss right on her lips. The other members of the company were all stunned. Gunny and Nate found themselves trying not to laugh about halfway through the kiss.
"We're not seeing this, right, Gunny?" Nate asked quietly.
"I have no idea what we're not seeing, sir. But we're certainly not seeing a lot of it." Gunny replied with a smile as Harm and Mac came up for air.
"Alright, now I know you're not alright." Mac affirmed as she wiped her lips. She was hoping that Harm would kiss her for risking her neck to come down here and save his but she wasn't hoping he'd do it because he might be suffering from a severe medical trauma but that would figure considering how they're relationship had gone over the years. After a few minutes of anticipation, a medium sized transport helicopter appeared overhead and two of Moshe's agents hopped out of the back.
"Our thanks, Colonel, Major, Gunnery Sergeant, if not for your efforts, it was possible that Bashram would have slipped through our fingers again." The one agent shook Mac's hand.
"You sure that bird has enough gas to get us to Manila? Captain Rabb is in need of urgent medical attention." Mac placed her hands on her hips.
"Oh yes, ma'am. We even have a former Israeli Army medic on board ready to administer a painkiller to the Captain so that his condition does not worsen under any strain." The younger man replied.
"Here's your terrorist." Gunny handed Bashram to the other agent. "All this death for one man because of one man. A damn tragedy."
Mac and Nate propped up either side of Harm as they walked him over to the Helo. They found Mike already onboard with and Israeli Army medic as promised. Soon after, Peach and Gunny joined them and the Helo took off. The medic pulled out a vial with a label written in Hebrew. He drew some into a syringe and flicked the tip of the needle. He wiped a medicated swab over Harm's arm and tied it off before injecting him with the syringe. "What did you inject him with?" Mac asked the medic.
"A small dose of Morphine, in his state, that's about all he could take." The medic replied.
Within a few minutes, Harm was drifting into unconsciousness and yawning. "See you in the morning, Mac." Harm said with a dreamy tone.
"Just get some sleep." Mac lightly stroked the hair of the head in her lap.
"Love ya." Harm muttered as he passed out. The other members of the company looked on the scene fondly. Peach chuckled before speaking.
"Did you get what you came down here for, Colonel?" She asked with a smile.
"Only if he remembers any of it when he wakes up." Mac smiled weakly. Tears ran down her face as she continued to lightly stroke Harm's hair. Peach turned to look at Nate who was still wearing his Ghillie suit and proudly sporting the camouflage paint on his face.
"You do realize that you look absolutely ridiculous in that thing, right?" Peach chuckled as she lightly ran her fingers over the paint on his face, smudging a little on to her fingers.
"You telling me that you don't look my Marine look? I kind of dig all the camouflage and face paint." Nate smiled, his white teeth proving a really stark contrast against the paint on his face.
"I'm just not used to it, I guess." Peach recovered, his smile always could melt her. She twiddled her thumbs idly. "I suppose, I should thank you, for saving my neck like you did."
"Don't. You never should have been a hostage and you thanking me is unnecessary. The fact is that I couldn't have lived with myself if I hadn't tried to save you. It helped to have my fellow Marines though, two people always willing to keep me in line." Nate tapped fists with Gunny and exchanged a nod with Mac.
"Semper Fi to the end, sir." Gunny added as he stretched out.
"Semper Fi, Gunny." Mac grinned.
"Semper Fi." Nate added his voice to the chant.
"Semper Fi, Marines." Peach concluded.
"And that was as close to a Hallmark moment as we're going to get on this trip." Gunny joked.
"Yeah, and you had to ruin it, nice going, Gunny." Mac joked. Gunny closed his eyes, exhausted by the morning's activity. This gave Nate and Peach less of an audience for any talking they felt they had to do.
"Was it hard? Picking up that rifle and killing with it again?" Peach asked, pointing to the rifle that was leaning against the inside of the Helo.
"Hard, but necessary, I had to overcome every single fear on this one but I should have been able to do that a long time ago." Nate answered dropping his head back against the glass window of the Helo.
"Why did you do it?" She asked as she laid her head on his shoulder.
"For you. I did it for you." Nate answered. The two of them just sat there in silence as the Helo took them ever closer to civilization closer to home.