"I bet that cave over there is where the guy is hiding."
"You might be right about that, Bekker. Sandra, think you can get a closer picture or is this as far as the drone camera's zoom goes?"
"It can go further but only a little."
"Right. Zoom to the max, then."
"Done. How's that?"
"Sandra." His deadpan tone prompted Bekker to start laughing. "We need to have a talk about what 'a little further' means. Because you and I have rather different definitions on what constitutes 'little'. That was easily a mile difference."
"We can't all be as blessed as you, boss."
Bekker doubled over in hysterics.
"And now I'm getting sassed by my own underling. Bekker, calm down, this wasn't that funny."
"Speak for yourself, Haddock. I beg to fucking differ."
"Course you do. You laughed over a line from an African themed and set animated movie. Your sense of humour is underdeveloped."
"Says the person who made the joke."
"Bekker: one, Haddock: zero," Fishlegs chimed in.
Hiccup snorted. "And on that bombshell, let's get back to work, shall we?"
"Indeed. While you two were goofing off, I think I spotted a generator that appears connected to the cave."
"You did? Well, point it out to us then. We might be able to take it out and get an idea of how many people are in the cave."
"We're going in then?"
"Yeah, we're going in."
…
An explosion in the cave woke up Yoonus el-Dada, brother to Aimal el-Dada.
Yoonus had been living there for a few days now, but his period of residence was now up, for the explosion he heard had blown the door to his room off its hinges, and in strode three.
The three that his fool of a brother had invited to their home.
He had much spicier words for his brother and the three, but he was denied the chance to utter all of them, before Bekker strode forward and struck him in the face with the butt of her rifle, knocking him out.
…
After Bekker knocked out Yoonus, the trio had left the room. Stepping out into the crudely constructed hallway, Fishlegs drew their attention to something a tad unusual.
"That door over there. Doesn't that seem expensive to you?"
The door in question was akin to what one would find serving as the entrance to a bank vault.
Hiccup nodded. "It does. Far too much for a terrorist group to afford, especially so soon."
They all made a beeline for it for a closer look.
Then Bekker spoke. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say that this group is state sponsored. Sponsored by a country with lots of money to spare."
"Sounds about right. I'll talk to Sigrid about it later. For now though, we need to dispose of our guy," said Hiccup.
…
Yoonus awoke to find himself kneeling in the sand of the desert, in front of an open grave.
There was already a body in the grave, its head wrapped in bandages, preventing him from identifying who it was.
A hand landed on his shoulder, pushing him around to face one of the three, the man with the reddish-brown hair, who now bore an expression of apathy while crouching before Yoonus.
He was dressed like a soldier. The suit and gloves he had worn on the day they had first met were gone.
"Sobh bakhair," he said. Good morning.
Yoonus didn't know why the man was saying good morning to him, and his mind raced to figure it out, pausing when the man turned him back around to face the grave again.
Then he heard him stand up, moving to walk past him and step into the open grave.
He disappeared from view, there was the sight and sound of the sand that made the walls of the grave being disturbed, then the sight of white cloth being thrown to land close to Yoonus, half in and out of the grave.
The man clambered back out of the hole and took position behind him again.
"Khudaa hafiz," he said. Goodbye.
Yoonus gave a yell as he was suddenly shoved forward, into the grave.
He instinctively tried to grab onto something to slow himself down, but his hands were bound. He landed, his fall cushioned by the body he had seen earlier.
And it was now that Yoonus recognized the body.
Of course, he did. He could never forget how his own brother looked after all.
Tears burned at the corner of his eyes. He wanted to throw up at the sight of his brother's charred face
But then he heard clicking. Three clicks, simultaneously.
Yoonus fought to right himself. It took a while, but he eventually managed to turn over and sit up, to see all members of the three standing near the edge of the grave, each of their guns – a pistol, each - aimed at him.
"Shab bakhair," the man, the leader of the three, said. Goodnight.
Goodnight indeed. Soon enough, all Yoonus could see was darkness, as if looking at a starless sky.
He was dead before the pain or the sound of gunfire could register.
"So what's next, Hiccup?" asked Bekker.
"Now we go talk to Sigrid about that metal door in the cave. I'll do that. You two go back to the cave; see if we missed anything."
"Can you manage to talk to Sigrid without arguing like you did after Aimal died?"
"Yes. Shame on you for doubting me though."