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On the parked Gulfstream, Nolan was fast asleep in its bedroom while Paige Grayson texted her friends.
Renner was sitting across the aisle of the plane playing video poker on one of the plane’s large screens. Hail hung up and turned to talk to him.
“That was Kara,” Hail said.
Renner tossed the game controller on the couch to provide Hail his full attention.
Hail continued, “She’s cornered in a farmhouse not far from here.”
“How many?” inquired Renner succinctly.
“Hundreds,” Hail said grimly.
“Damn, that’s not good,” Renner said, sounding as dejected as his friend.
“Any thoughts?” Hail asked, hoping to kick-start a brainstorming session.
“Not a single one,” Renner replied. “I mean we could bring in some heavy artillery like some LOCO missiles, but that would probably escalate into an international incident which would expose our operation.”
“I wholeheartedly agree,” Hail said.
Both men were stumped. They sat in silence trying to come up with a solution for a problem with an overwhelming number of moving parts.
Groping for a starting point, Hail suggested, “We could fly in some drones and drop them onto the property and go head hunting.”
Prior to Hail finishing his sentence, Renner was shaking his head.
“Marshall, we are talking about a sustained engagement with a large force. At the most we can get twenty minutes of flight time out of each drone until they run out of power. Even if we could drop in drones and take out the entire assault force, how many casualties are we talking? Hundreds of men lying dead in front of a farmhouse will most likely make the papers. Someone will want to know who did it and for what reason.”
Hail didn’t have a response to Renner’s objections but there had to be a way to engage the enemy.
More silence. More thinking. Paige laughed at something, reminding Hail of the creation of the new weapon, which led to yet another idea.
“Is the kid’s project, Jefferson Starship, beta tested and ready for a real-world trial?”
Gage puffed out his cheeks and raised an eyebrow. His expression indicated he thought, “That’s a long shot.” But, the tone of his words was more positive.
“It’s been tested and most of the bugs have been worked out, but I have no idea how it will work in the field. You know how that goes. Testing in the lab is a lot different than testing under hostile conditions.”
“I don’t know if we have any other choice,” Hail said.
Renner couldn’t fault that logic. “Yep, you’re probably right, but how in the hell are we going to get that huge hunk of metal from Togo, Lomé to Pakistan? We certainly can’t haul it under one of our choppers for 4000 miles.”
Hail responded, “I think this would be an opportunity for Pepper to give us an assist. I’ll give him a call to see if he can get his hands on a cargo plane that is large enough to transport Jefferson Starship from the Hail Nucleus to Bacha Khan International Airport here in Peshawar. While Pepper is busy with that, we’ll need to get our hands on a local chopper to fly the drone from the airport to the farmhouse.”
Renner suggested, “Maybe Pepper can help with that as well. I’m sure there is a U.S. military base near here. Hopefully, they can loan us a chopper.”
“That’s possible,” Hail said, already in the process of dialing Pepper’s phone number.
When Jarrett answered, Hail provided him a brief update regarding Ramey’s situation.
Pepper’s initial response was, “What the hell has Kara gotten herself into? Do you realize how bad this will look if a CIA agent is caught in Pakistan after kidnapping an international banker’s children?”
“The banker is a terrorist,” Hail reminded Pepper.
“I can assure you, that detail will be omitted from the headline.”
“I have a new defensive weapon I believe may help to extract Kara. The only problem is I need your assistance to fly it from Togo to Peshawar, Pakistan.”
“Togo? Like the country Togo?” Pepper choked out.
“Yeah, just like that,” Hail said, rolling his eyes at Renner who was listening in on Hail’s cell phone speaker.
“I need to check,” Pepper said. “The CIA doesn’t have any airborne assets in that region, but I will call General Ford to find out if he has a lifter in the area.”
“Call me back as soon as you know. I told Kara to stall and she is waiting for my call.”
Pepper hung up without saying goodbye.
“Asshole,” Hail said before pressing the red CALL END button on his phone.
Peshawar, Pakistan - Safe House One
The breach team entered the home quickly using the hole in the exterior wall created by the Claymore mine Kara had planted. They’d already moved systematically throughout the home disarming the booby traps. Zain was pleased none of his remaining men suffered further injuries and that no additional explosions had erupted. A few minutes after the breach team called, “All clear,” they reported they had observed an underground labyrinth. This intrigued Zain.
Minutes later he received another radio transmission informing him they had located more dead police officers. Other than that, the home was deserted. Within the dwelling there was neither the presence of kidnappers nor his children.
He clicked the TALK button on his radio requesting his men find out where the tunnel went. Zain also insisted that until he was inside they should not take any further offensive action.