Where Are They?
"Where the fuck are they?" Jason growled at the young guys behind the computers who were furiously tapping their keyboards and looking at their screens.
The control room back at Bravo's temporary base of operations in the Syrian desert was packed with both Navy and CIA staff who were all busy and at a level of high alert.
Bravo One was pacing, stopping regularly to make eye contact with his 2IC who was standing at the opposite side of the room, arms folded, doing his level best to talk calmly with Blackburn and Ellis, the CIA point person on this mission which had suddenly and unexpectedly gone to hell.
And all three had their eyes on Bravo's team leader, who was as close to losing it as Ray had ever seen his boss and brother. Jason never lost it in the field. And Ray had no doubt he would hold it together and do his job now. But the men like Ray and Blackburn who truly knew Jason understood that he was closer to the edge than he'd ever been in all his years in uniform.
The mission, like every mission in a hostile and unstable area, was dangerous, but no more so than many other operations Bravo carried out on a regular basis. They were searching for intel on a target wanted by the CIA for questioning. Tramping through the remote Syrian desert in early winter. It was hot during the day, and bitter cold at night. But the weather was unpredictable.
Changing winds produced dangerous sandstorms that appeared as if out of nowhere. The thick, stinging, blinding sand mercilessly pounded any area of exposed skin. Intense winds blew swirling clouds of loose desert sand and dust through the air making it impossible to see and near impossible to breathe.
The sandstorms reminded Jason of the blizzards he remembered as a kid back in Western New York - when a trip to the end of a familiar driveway could lead to panic. Suddenly lost and disoriented in a blinding swirl of pelting snow and frigid air that, like the sudden storm which had engulfed his team, made it impossible to see and near impossible to breathe. People were lost in those blizzards. Knocked down, buried in snow, their bodies were discovered frozen in the yard or at the edge of the driveway when the storm had finally passed.
Jason pushed those thoughts out of his head. His job was his team. His brothers. His boys. And he would not let them down now. Forcing himself to maintain master chief mode, he again demanded a response. But this time, deadly calm.
"Where are they?" Bravo One looked his twenty-five-year-old support kid in the eye.
His name was Kevin. He was a tech guy. Smart, loyal, the best at what he did. Not long after Clay had become Jason's kid, Kevin was one of the young support guys who looked out for him at an infirmary in Mexico while Clay was sick and scared to be alone with Bravo called away to finish a mission. The kid looked about ready to vomit as his boss and hero stared him dead in the face.
Kevin wanted nothing more than to tell his master chief what he wanted to hear. Like every man Jason and Ray had carefully chosen to be Bravo's support team, Kevin knew Bravo One was not just searching for his young dog handler and underage rookie. He was desperate to find and bring home the kids he considered his own.
Kevin knew that along with Ray who was staring from across the room, just outside the door, Sonny and Trent would be stalking the hallway, agitated and waiting for a location where they could track down and bring home their baby brothers. The pressure was on. Everyone in the room could feel it. Time was running out. The weather could turn on a dime. And Jason wanted answers.
Kevin took a breath before speaking.
"Boss," he started, trying to keep his voice steady. "With the number of abandoned shelters and caves in the immediate area, it's going to be near impossible to pinpoint an exact location."
"I need you to do the best that you possibly can to get us in the general area so that we have someplace to start looking, son," Jason said, calm and firm.
"Yes sir," Kevin said. "We are doing that now. We have the last location where Bravo had eyes on Five and Six. And we are factoring in weather conditions, aerial and on the ground footage of possible shelter your boys may have utilized when the storm blew through."
"And?" Jason said, not breaking eye contact.
"And there are multiple possibilities we are looking at, sir," Kevin said. His voice was steady, but Jason recognized a slight hesitation.
"Kevin," Jason said, stepping back slightly to give the kid room to breathe. Bravo One was aware all eyes were currently on him and this kid. "I chose you. I trust you. And I'm asking for your personal opinion. I understand what you are saying, and I understand this is not an exact science. But I want to know where you think I should take the team now. If that location changes as more information is analyzed, you can update me. But I need to take Bravo somewhere to start looking while there is a break in the weather. And I need you to tell me where to go."
Kevin brought up a map and photos on the screen. Jason motioned for Ray to bring in Bravos Three and Four. No one tried to stop him.
Blackburn along with Bravos One through Four stood around the tech kid looking at his screen. Kevin was the only one to speak.
"Brock and Clay are smart," he said, confidently. "They have the dog, and Cerb is trained to seek shelter. Safety-wise, the caves are a better choice than any of the abandoned shacks or shelters. The question is how fast were they overcome with the wind and sand, and how far could they get."
Ray leaned in to look more closely at the screen. "Where were they, approximately, relative to these drone pics when we lost contact?"
Kevin used an onscreen arrow to show Bravo's last known location. "You guys were walking through this area when the storm kicked up. Clay had gone up here to find higher ground to cover you, and Brock was moving toward Clay with the dog."
"Assuming Brock attempted to get to Clay which would follow his training to protect the rookie and not leave a brother," Jason said, addressing Kevin. "What would be their best option for shelter?"
"There are these series of caves back up here behind Bravo Six's location," Kevin said, indicating the caves on his screen. "They aren't deep, but I think they would be the most logical option for immediate shelter."
"But you don't think they would stay in this area?" Jason guessed.
"I don't," Kevin said, shaking his head. "Once the winds died down and Bravo had moved to the exfil location, it would be dangerous to stay in this area. Boss, I think they would know and count on you coming for them once you all got to exfil and realized they hadn't made it back. Five and Six both know in the confusion of the storm, they would be valuable targets for kidnapping."
"Assuming they aren't seriously injured, and are able to move," Trent said. "Brock and Clay are trained to find the safest place to shelter for an extended period of time until rescue is possible. They'd look for deeper caves, higher up with a better vantage point to watch for danger."
"That's what I think, too," Kevin said. "I think they'd move as soon as possible, while the weather hadn't settled, in order to evade capture."
"And you think that is where?" Jason asked.
"There are several options. Which is the good news, because it ups the odds for long-term survival," Kevin said.
"But it's also the bad news," Ray said. "Because it's going to take more time to search all the options."
"Exactly," Kevin said.
"What do you think, Boss?" Sonny said, trying to maintain his composure when he wanted to tear the room apart. "You know how they think. You've been training them every day since you brought them home. Where do you think they would go? They know we're not leaving without them. So where would they go to wait for us?"
Jason stared at the screen for several long, silent seconds. "Our boys are smart," he reiterated. "They are all about strategy, and they are both thinkers. They know people will be looking for them. There are no secrets here. By now someone has gotten the word out that SEALS are missing. Brock and Clay know they need to choose their spot wisely."
"They won't run to the closest option," Trent said. "Even if it's a good shelter, they know it's the first place the enemy will look. And this is the insurgent's backyard, the people tracking them know this area well."
"So we're looking for probably a series of caves," Ray said. "Deep, high enough to see danger coming, but not obvious from lower ground."
"They have limited water," Trent said. "So they're going to be looking for a source. Rain is almost non-existent in this part of the country, but if it's going to fall at all during the night, this is the season for it. We need to track them down before their water runs out and they need to come out to search for an abandoned well or groundwater. They'll stay under as long as possible knowing that coming out will almost guarantee capture. We need to find them asap."
"I'd start here," Kevin said, moving his pointer. "In my opinion, it's our best bet."
"We're going," Jason said, turning to look at Blackburn.
"And I'm not trying to stop you," Blackburn said calmly. "But the smart move is to wait until dawn. Eat. Sleep. Going at night with the weather unstable isn't the best choice. It's dark. If the wind picks up, night vision will be useless. No doubt your boys are hunkering down and going in deep to wait out the night. You need to do the same. It's the smart strategy. Alpha has been spun up to support the search. They are already in the air and will arrive before dawn. And they're bringing their dog. If Bravo waits, you can regroup with Alpha and go out better prepared together."
Blackburn paused, putting his hand on Bravo One's shoulder and squeezing. "We all know how you and your men feel about your boys, Jason. But, you have trained them well. I'm letting you make the call because it's your team," he said. "If it were me, taking into consideration all of the factors, I would trust Five and Six to follow procedure. And I would do the same. They won't be moving before the weather starts to settle. And they won't be looking for you before dawn."
Ray made eye contact with his team leader and brother. He nodded, indicating without saying a word that he agreed with Blackburn. As much as Jason wanted to go out immediately, and he knew Trent and Sonny did not want to wait, as Bravo One and master chief, he knew the best strategy was to wait and go just before dawn.
And so Bravo waited.