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| Camouflage HeartBy Frank MarcopolosChapter 1 : Operation Caveman28 Aug 19970337 Hours, Pakistani TimeEvery adrenalized cell in my body percolated on high alert.I felt close.My back pressed against the rock, I slithered forward one cautious step at a time.Sweat seeped through my black bandana, through my salwar kameez.It made its way down my nose, down my back, down my legs, into my boots."Son of a bitch," I whispered.???A grin made its way across my lips.I could smell him, the fucker.I could smell a lot of other things, too.The caveway's stench proved an additional barrier, like a trench slit left open and rotting for days, as some kind of shit-moat.I felt across a large rock with my right hand, felt around it.Curve upcoming.This could be it.???I yanked my Baretta from its holster with my left hand.I negotiated the corner, and there he was.Sheik Muhammed al-Huarishimar, eating rice from a bowl with his hands.No security.His black keffiyeh sat on the floor beside him.His straggly beard and blackened fingers, combined with his sun-darkened skin covered in wrinkle-folds and crow's feet, gave him the look of a farm-hand peasant rather than a man of God.???"The snakes!" he said in Arabic as soon as he lifted his head and saw me. "Allah, forgive me. Never trust a man from Casmir!"???A smile tried to explode from my face, but I managed to hold it back.Not yet.I ran toward him and handcuffed Muhammed to his aluminum folding chair.My mouth, given hyperdrive superpowers by my incredible fortune, spewed out question after interrogation question.Each time, the son-of-a-bitch refused to answer.???I took in a deep breath.It felt good, despite the smell.The time to end it was Now.Finally."President Clinton sends his regards," I said before pulling the pistol's trigger.???al-Huarishimar laughed.I hadn't expected that."You got the wrong man, infidel," he said.???"That's what they all say on death row," I said."You've had a good, long life, Sheik.It's time to go." al-Huarishimar's death row turned out to be an underground cave network on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan."You will see, Mr. Infidel," he said."I am an imposter."???Now he was gonna start talking?He sat there silent, question after question, and all of a sudden he was gonna get chatty?After chasing down this weasel through dirty caves with salty sweat pouring into my eyes, after months of recon, of intel gathering, of UW planning, of working with the different groups, and the battle scars accrued along the way, all I wanted was for it to end.???"Whatever, man," I said."You think the sheik would be sitting here with no security, just like this?" he said.???"If he thought he was safe, sure.Why not?"???"You do not believe that, do you?"???"Sure I do," I said.???"And you think the sheik's militia would just let you walk in here, just have access to him?Just like this?"???A sliver of doubt coursed through me. I knew our intel was good, knew what I knew.It was rock-solid.And yet, that sliver of doubt emerged.I wiped sweat away from my eyebrows."I"???"When they know their lives, and their afterlives, depend on his survival?"???"Who do you think we paid off?"I said."I mean, how do you think I even got in here?"???"You Americans.You think everything is about money money money.You think money will save your soul?You think Allah cares one bit about your worthless American dollars?And you think just because you give our people your money they will keep their word, they won't double-cross you as soon as they are out of your sight?You must be incredibly nave, even for an American."???My certainty returned.I had this guy trapped.He was just trying to squirm out.I knew it.I knew it.It had to be."No," I said."Our intel is right on.And we've been working with these guys for weeks."???"Weeks?Weeks, infidel?Do you know anything?Do they teach you nothing in your fancy American schools?What do you know of history?What is a matter of weeks?Here, we live for infinity.For the blessd afterlife.You keep measuring time in your weeks, we will keep measuring on our eternal calendar.We'll see who comes out on top in the end."???"That may just be"???"You can kill me all you want, infidel.I am not the man you want.So you will go back home and your commanders will do what they will, bust you down a rank or two, what have you"???I thought about that for a second.If this wasn't who I thought it was, there sure would be Hell to pay.We'd poured a ton of resources into this mission, and if I came back empty-handed, I'd be fucked.I felt my resolve slipping.The stench of the cave relentlessly drove itself into my brain."That's not"???"It is no matter to me, sir," he said.He scratched his arm."In any case, I'm just a little pawn in this game, anyway.You can kill a man, but you can not kill an idea.And our cause will go on forever, no matter how many of our pawns you may kill, no matter how many American dollars you flush down the toilet.You can not win, infidel.This is impossible."???"I really"???"You should see the error of your life.Repent now.Become a good Muslim and all can be forgiven in the eyes of Allah.You can be reborn a new man, with a promising future.72 virgins and an eternity in divine bliss.Or you can live a few more years and then spend the rest of eternity burning away in Hell.You decide."???The smell of this shit-cave was driving me insane.There was one last piece of intel I had that would make or break this mission.al-Huarishimar had a tattoo on his back of a snake crawling up the leg of a naked woman.His sect, like a lot of Islamic sects, forbade tats, but this guy was a hypocrite.He preached against them, but he and his cadre of leaders all had them.I moved behind my prisoner, and yanked his shirt collar back.Sure as shit, there it was.???"Thanks for the lecture, dawg," I said."But I think I'll stick to the ol' red, white, and blue.God bless the U.S.A." I shot Muhammed al-Huarishimar through the temple.The pistol's recoil jammed into my hand.His body fell to the floor away from me as his blood splattered on his black keffiyeh.My head swirled, dizzying me. Sweat poured from my pores.I slumped against the wall, dropped down to the floor, and dropped my head into my chest.My heart was beating like crazy, as if I were on the wrong end of the pistol, instead of the right one."Holy shit," I said to no one.My mind flew into hyperdrive, jumping from one amped thought to the next.One evil terrorist, gone.Gone by my own hand.A combat kill."Jesus Fucking Christ," I said.Kills always felt like this, but I'd never gotten used to it.Despite the hard-core training, it never got easy.They can train you to prepare for any deadly external situation, but we don't go through Emotions Training.There's no fucking Q Course for this shit. |
| There's no fucking Q Course for this shit.It was like I was a separate category of the human race Human Killer, Unconvictable.???I ran back along the cavewell and made it outside, eventually.The Arabian moonlight hit me like a Siberian gale-force.It shivered me cold as an icicle.I made my way into town and called in the mission, told them it was a success.Told them it was over, at last.???An immense joy took hold of me. The kind of happiness that made me fall in love with life all over again.It happened at the end of every successful mission.It made me thank God for the Special Forces, thank God there was a way for me to live out my life as a modern-day, bad-ass Huck Finn, making a positive difference in this fucked-up world of ours.It was a brand of freedom you could find nowhere else."Yes," I said to no one in a world full of "No."???The next day, I boarded the Blackhawk UH-60 chopper exhausted yet exhilarated at the same time.My ODA and I had accomplished what a lot of missions before us could not do.It felt good.But my bodybruised and lacerated, battered and worn downached for sleep.???It took forever to get back to Qatar, and longer to Germany.All I could think about was my pitch-black room and getting dream-lost in my cool bed.Sleep.I wanted to sleep for days.???First though, I had to see General Smith.Procedural stuff.An AAR, a briefing, whatever.He just wanted to be kept in the loop, I thought.???I limped into his office, closed the door, and slumped into a couch against the wall.I felt like hell.???"What the fuck is this?" he said from behind his ginormous desk.???"Huh?"I said.???"You reported back that the mission was accomplished."???"Yes sir," I said.???"Then why the fuck do we have a video of Shiek Muhammed al-Huarishimar speaking out?That the CIA has authenticated?And after the time you supposedly killed him?"Smith pointed at a TV in the corner of the room.I swiveled and saw al-Huarishimar, the man I recently murdered, plain as day.The fucker.***I watched an animated al-Huarishimar on that TV screen go on and on about something or other.I couldn't tell what, exactly, because General Smith muted the sound.You know jihad this and infidels that.Same old same old.But just seeing him there, waving his arms around like a crazy man made my stomach squirm.I could feel the jostle and flow of sickness in my belly.And then, I couldn't hold it back.I threw up all over General Smith's blue carpeting.??"Jesus Christ, man!" he said."Are you OK?"???"I don't think so," I said.???He opened the door and said, "Johnson, get somebody in here to clean this shit up!Langley and I have to go use the conference room for our meeting.Jesus Christ."???"Yes sir," said Johnson.???We moved into the conference room and I explained what happened.I told him about the imposter.I told him that I, apparently, killed an innocent civilian.He stomped around the table in the conference room, looking at the carpeting."I thought you guys were good," he said."The best.That's what General Taylor told me. The best of the best, the brightest of the brightest.His words."???"Well, sir," I mumbled.???"Get the fuck out of here, and report back when you get some rest.You look like a pile of sidewalk dogshit, low-speed.I don't even want to look at you right now, Sergeant Langley."???I moped back to the barracks, to the sanctuary of my room.I ripped off my clothes and collapsed in my bed, naked.I slept until I could not sleep anymore.???At the command meeting, a small group sat nervously around the table.Myself, General Smith, General Taylor, Colonel Flores, Command Sergeant Major Horndeck, and First Sergeant Nieburt."Sergeant Langley, why don't you get us up to speed here?"General Smith said."What the hell happened out there?"???I stood up."Yes, sir," I said."We got word from the advanced team that all the imposters had been eliminated, so we proceeded as planned.We met some heavy resistance in areas where we weren't expecting it, and light where we were, but other than that, there were no major issues.We had been working with all the rival factions for weeks, and we had gained their trust, finally, to the point where we were getting solid intel.Once it became actionable, I was the one who was able to go in and get the target."???"But, after Sergeant Langley returned, we learned that he was an imposter," General Smith said.???"Yes," I said."We planned for this contingency, of course, but we had received clearance from the advanced team, and I verified his back tattoo as well, which we had learned was a unique identifier.But still, I feel like I feel like I should have done more to make sure we had our man."???"OK, son," General Smith said."I understand."???I sat back down feeling an ocean of emotions stir in me, from shame, to pride, to fuck, I dunno.It was all just kind of swirling around in there, and fuck if I know what it all meant.I banged the chair pretty hard unintentionally as I sat back down."Sorry," I said.???The rest of the table reviewed strategies for moving forward.At that point, I could barely hear them.I was thinking about my men, thinking about the sacrifices we had made, thinking about how I screwed up the whole fucking thing.I was thinking about my ocean of emotions.???"What do you think of that idea, Sergeant Langley," General Smith said.???"Huh?"I said, coming out of my stupor.???"Utilizing echo team, what about that capability?"???"No, sir," I said."That's not a good option."???"There are no good options, son, don't you understand that?That's what we've just hashed out."???"I know, sir, but still.We're the best asset we've got," I said."Maybe you used to be, Langley.We tried it your way.You need to rebuild your operational strength.You need to take your guys back to Bragg and regroup."I couldn't argue with that, and didn't.General Smith stared at me like I was crazy."Langley," he said, "unless you can give me another viable option, you're just gonna have to deal with it."???I tried, but my mind wouldn't unlock.I couldn't come up with anything.I sat there like a patsy, silent.???"It's settled then," General Smith said."Lemme go back and work some shit out, and then we'll come up with specifics.Langley, your orders are to follow shortly.Let your men know.The JFK Center needs to get you smarted you up, and vice-versa."???"Yes, sir," I said.We all stood and they all filed out of the room.I slumped back into my chair, and collapsed my head into my arms on the table.Corporal Johnson came in to clean up."Don't worry, Sergeant Langley, I'm sure Fort Bragg will be great.You'll be all right," he said.???I looked up at him, trying to convince myself not to strangle the smart-ass."How do you know what's going on?"I said.???"I'm General Smith's Admin Assistant," he said."I know everything before anyone does.Why do you think I have 57 commander's coins and I've only been in for two years?"He smiled the kind of smile for which I would have knocked his teeth back, if we were back on the block."Oh, right," I said.???"And I'm sure reconnecting with your ex-wife at Bragg will be really, really exciting," Johnson said, that smile widening.It took everything I had not to throw a chair at him.? |
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