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Friday morning, the camp was quiet, as the members of the caravan rested from the hard labor of unloading the camels and dragging the goods into the school’s catacombs. Aidan and Liam sat on their sleeping mats inside Ifoudan’s tent and spoke in low voices as the camel herder slept.
“Can you get away from the rest of the men long enough to place the anthrax in the air handler?” Aidan asked.
Liam explained the way the camels were being unloaded. “Ifoudan and I alternate shifts underground, supervising the unloading,” he said. “I’ll only need a minute between groups. There’s an air intake vent in the main storage room, and I can unscrew the vent cover, place the anthrax, and get the cover back on while I’m on my own.”
Even though it was hot under the tent, Aidan couldn’t help shivering. He was scared, but trying not to give in to the fear. He thought that if he kept talking, kept his mind on the details, he wouldn’t have time to focus on the danger, to himself and to Liam. “What if you’re searched on the way in?”
“The guards aren’t inspecting what we bring in, but just in case, the package will be camouflaged. It’ll look like something that’s been riding a camel for a week.”
“What about precautions?” Aidan asked. “Anthrax is pretty dangerous.”
Liam shrugged. “They’re bringing doses of Cipro with them,” he said. “It’s the only antibiotic that works against anthrax. If I start taking it immediately after exposure I should be fine.” He looked at Aidan. “And in case you were worrying, they’ll have doses for everyone who’s been in the school and the hospital. If we do this right, nobody gets anything worse than a case of the sniffles.”
“You’re not going to unwrap the stuff until the end of the day, right?” Aidan asked. “So that you can get out right afterward?”
He shook his head. “Too dangerous. Too many ways things can go wrong. As soon as I’m alone, after the first set of deliveries, I’m sticking it in the vent.”
“But then you could be breathing it for hours.”
“It’s going to take some time to travel throughout the ductwork,” he said. “Most of the men have scarves wound around their faces, so that should minimize the impact. I’ll do my best to be careful.”
“You have any idea how we’re getting out of here when this is over?”
“There will be a chopper to extract the team,” he said. “We can hitch a ride with them. The only thing is, they need to get in and get out before the Libyans realize we’re in their air space. If the chopper gets caught here, it could cause a major international incident.”
“As if the stakes weren’t high enough.” Aidan shivered again, and Liam put his arm around him. Aidan nestled his head against Liam’s shoulder.
“It’s going to be OK,” Liam said softly. “This is what we do. These guys, they’re the best. You’ll see, it’s going to go like clockwork.”
“I’m scared. I’m scared you’ll get anthrax, or you’ll do something heroic and get yourself killed. I don’t... I don’t want...”
“I took a lot of risks when I was a SEAL. I admit, sometimes they were dumb risks.” He kissed Aidan on the lips. “But that’s all different now. You’ve taught me something, Aidan. You’ve shown me that there’s a life out there for me, one that I want. And I’m coming back for it, don’t you worry.”
They slept through the heat of the day, and ate dinner with Ifoudan. He and Liam spoke in Arabic, and Aidan wondered how much Liam was telling him. How did they know that they could trust the camel herder? Sure, he’d helped them get rid of Hassan el-Masri, but Ifoudan’s loyalties could lie with his people, with his friend Ibrahim, not with two Americans. And what would happen to him, and his people, after Liam and Aidan jumped on a chopper full of SEALs and terrorists and winged their way out of the desert?
Aidan couldn’t eat much dinner, and what he did eat, he threw up, out of sight and sound of the camp. He buried the evidence under the sand, wiped his mouth, and went back to the tent, where Liam handed him the sat phone.
“I rigged it to vibrate,” he said. “But just in case, we’re going to have to sleep in shifts. I don’t expect the guys to get here til nearly dawn, so I’ll take the first shift. But if that phone starts to vibrate, wake me up ASAP.”
“Will do, commander,” Aidan said, saluting him.
“I’ll have a few commands for you when we get out of here,” he said. “Once we’ve both had a couple of good meals and a shower.”
Once again, Liam amazed Aidan with his ability to fall asleep. Aidan knew that he’d have been tossing and turning for hours if he had the burdens the ex-SEAL had.
Aidan was scared to leave the tent, because he worried that the phone might go off while he was out somewhere and he wouldn’t be able to get it back to Liam in time. So instead, he sat there in the tent as Liam and Ifoudan slept, as the rest of the camp slept around them. The next day everything would come apart, and things would change in big ways. Aidan tried to relish the moments of peace, but couldn’t manage it.
He was sitting there, his mind back in time somewhere, when the sat phone began vibrating. He nudged Liam, who was awake instantly. He grabbed the phone from Aidan and jumped up. He was out of the tent before Aidan could even register that Liam was awake.
He was back a few minutes later. “They’ve landed, closer than they expected, but it doesn’t look like anyone’s noticed. There’s no activity at the school. If someone’s monitoring the radar in Tripoli they haven’t let these guys know what’s going on.”
“There’s always the possibility that because this is a secret facility, anyone monitoring air traffic in Tripoli wouldn’t even know it’s here.”
“That’s a good thought. Keep that in mind as this starts going down.”
He encouraged Aidan to sleep for a while. “You’ll need your rest for tomorrow,” he said. “I don’t want you falling asleep as we’re running for a chopper.”
“I doubt that’ll happen.” Aidan was sure he wouldn’t be able to sleep, but maybe knowing that Liam was there with him helped him doze off after a few minutes. When he woke, it was still dark, but Liam was moving around in the tent.
“They’re setting up camp just over the next rise,” he said. “I want you to come with me. You’ll be safer back there.”
“Is someone going to babysit me?” Aidan asked. “Or are you leaving me alone out there?”
“Don’t be scared, Aidan. I don’t have time now.”
“I’m not scared, I’m logical. I’m safer here, in the middle of a bunch of people, within sight and sound of the school.”
“Fine. Stay here, then. I’ll be back.”
Aidan couldn’t tell if Liam was angry with him, or if he was just economical with words because he was in a hurry. Aidan had put up with a lot of nasty comments from Blake, about everything from his ear hair to his book collection, and he’d developed a thick skin. But somehow, even the mildest reproach from Liam hurt more than a dozen of Blake’s sharp observations.
