Shane sat in the back of the room as the ISA analyst went over the latest satellite images of the Siwa compound. The analyst seemed convinced that they had pinpointed the building where the blond-haired man with the eye-patch was being held and was equally certain that the man was a prisoner. Intelligence indicated that the compound would have minimal resistance; they had counted fewer than a dozen guards.

Beyond that, most of the information was just a rehash of what they already knew, so Shane took the opportunity to study the soldiers who would go on the mission. They were a seasoned group, having just finished several months in the Persian Gulf. Their captain, a stocky man with a crew cut named Nowicki, was a veteran of Vietnam, Grenada and Panama, not to mention plenty of unofficial campaigns. He had not been very pleased to learn that Shane was joining the mission, technically as a "forward observer."

The analyst finished and Nowicki stepped forward. He ran through the mission plans once more and then dismissed the group. "Be ready to mobilize at 13:00," he said. Then he eyed Shane.

"You," he said. "Come here." Shane tried to suppress a slight grin. He had been waiting for this, so he walked toward the front of the room. Near the doors, some of the other soldiers had stopped and were waiting for their Captain to take the "spook" down a peg.

"Yes, Captain," Shane said innocently, as he reached the table that held the 3-dimensional model of the compound. "Something I can do for you?"

Nowicki glared. "My team's perfectly capable of extracting one man. We don't really need tourists."

"I know the man, Captain. We don't know his physical or mental condition. He might not go with a group of strangers." Shane looked down at the model. "And I assure you that I don't need a nanny. I can carry my own weight."

"Can you?" Nowicki picked up a rifle and tossed it to Shane. "Field strip that."

Shane shrugged and looked at the rifle. It was a basic CAR-15, relatively simple to take apart. "I'll admit that I've had more practice with the MP5, but very well." He locked the bolt to the rear of the rifle, pushed the rear dis-assembly and got to work. In about a minute, the rifle was completely disassembled. "Satisfied?"

Nowicki actually seemed a little impressed. "You've had some practice."

"I trained for the SAS reserve during university. Finished the main part, but broke a leg during parachute training. I would've gone back, but the ISA thought I'd be of better use in intelligence." Shane looked at the soldier. "I can handle a weapon and am also certified to handle light demolitions - C-4 and the like."

If Shane thought that was going to end his testing, he was mistaken. Nowicki looked down at the model. "Give me a run through."

Shane looked at the model. The compound was a pretty basic rectangular design with about eight buildings inside. None was flush with the fence, so guards could walk the entire perimeter. A main artery ran from the southern gate to the largest building, which was just south of the center, an open area with paths that went east, west and north. Along those paths were what looked like mobile trailers and some smaller buildings.

Pointing to the perimeter fence on the north side of the compound, Shane started talking. "Four teams will be dropped north of the compound. Teams one and two will have four men, team three will have three, and team four will be me and Sergeant Deakins." Deakins was a large, barrel-chested Georgian with an accent so thick Shane could barely understand the man. Of course, Deakins said the same thing about Shane and, even worse, had adopted the unfortunate practice of calling him "Spooky."

Shane continued. "All four teams will breach the fence here, on the north side. From there, team one will follow the perimeter west to take out the guards here and here." He pointed at each of the western guard stations. "Teams two and three will move south, with team two taking out the central operations building and any guards who move from the southern side. Meanwhile, Sergeant Deakins and I - I mean, team four - will follow teams two and three to this point-" He pointed to where the east and west paths branched out of the center of the compound. "-and will break to the east with team three, which will take out any guards on the eastern perimeter." Finally, Shane pointed at a small building midway along the path running to the east. "Then Deakins and I will enter this building and retrieve the target." He looked back at Nowicki. "How'd I do?"

"And after that?"

"We run like hell for the extract point."

That prompted a laugh from Nowicki. "You know, Donovan, you might be the first spook I actually like."

Shane smiled slightly. "Backhanded though it is, I'll take that as a compliment, Captain."

"Don't make me change my mind," Nowicki said. "Now just do me a favor and don't get yourself killed."

"I assure you, Captain, that's definitely high on my list of priorities." Shane began picking up the pieces of the rifle and reassembling it.

"Good," Nowicki said, as he headed toward the door. "You'll save me a lot of paperwork that way."