John jolted upright beneath the woolen blanket, the sound of men singing brought him back to consciousness, the tent was still dark, wind still whipping the tent’s walls. The night had been rough. Something felt … wrong. Before he passed out, he tied the flap tightly, placed the side table in front of it, and slipped his gun under his pillow. He tried to stay awake as long as possible, but his eyelids grew heavy, and sleep overwhelmed him.
A folded note fluttered to the ground as he pushed himself up. A map of the camp with an encircled tent on the other end, farther away from the oasis. He looked around the tent. Someone had slipped beneath the tent while he was dead to the world. He took out the phone from its hidden compartment in his turban, determination etched on the tired lines of his face. ‘Safe.’ The dagger went into his boot, his gun, a SIG Sauer P365, and extra magazines removed from the bottom of the bag, hidden in a false inner compartment, went into the folds of his clothing before exiting his tent. The stars had begun to fade, and the eastern sky becoming a bright cobalt.
Groups of men followed a trail through the oasis, heading to the mine. He went toward the x on the map, against the flow of human traffic.
John skirted the thick shadows, finding hiding spaces between tents and around corners. He avoided the men who got a later start. They always sounded giddy, the opportunity to find the next vein of gold and their reward. John’s goal – to uncover the truth. He tried to appear nonchalant just in case. But he felt a firm hand on his shoulder and he jumped around.
“You are looking for something – or someone?”
John recognized the face from the file his superior showed him. He took a deep breath. The man grabbed his arm and pulled his sleeve up to reveal the tattoo. He man nodded and let go.
“You aren’t the one who disappeared then? What have you found?” John asked.
He shook his head. “Call me Hadi. I figured they would send someone after I went dark. I told them I needed a computer expert and here you are.” He kept his voice low and held the tent flap up as John went through it, the interior as simple as his own. Beneath the bed, hidden under the rug, he took out a usb drive. “I found a lot.”
“What do you need me for?”
“The moment I figured out what this operation was, I knew it is too big for me. We have a situation and I need to stop it. There is some valuable information hidden in a server room deep in the mountain. We are dealing with a base for a terror group, The Silent Dawn. They are a spinter group who I think are still organizing. If we can stop them before they get started, we will be doing the world a favor.”
John nodded, his lips pursed together into a thin line. “Do you have a plan already?”
“An vague outline of one. First, we need a diversion. I will deal with that. And you need to head down to their server room. It is heavily guarded, but hopefully with the diversion, we can draw their attention away.”
“What are the files I am looking for?”He handed John the USB.
“Any files related to the terror group, assets, plans, whatevery you can find, download them and wipe the memory. We will meet here,” he pointed to a spot on the crude map of the camp. “I will arrange our escape as well.”
John took the USB and hid it in the tiny pocket near his waist. “I can do that. Explain the inside of the mine.”
Hadi took out some crude drawings from his pockets. It took about thirty minutes to make their plans. John, being a quick learner, nodded as Hadi pointed to rooms and drew his finger along the lines indicating shafts. X’s marked the usual places security stood guard, John took note of all the details, storing it in his memory. Another one of his strengths. Not just a computer nerd, an excellent memory and he had a knack of slipping in and out unobserved, striking when least expected. A hush fell over the two men, the wind swirling outside, the sound of sand hit the tent walls.
“We can’t fail,” Hadi told him.
“We won’t,” John replied.
The sun had risen quickly over the dunes. John left the tent first. Hadi, aka Mongoose, lingered behind in the tent giving John time and creating a distance between them. The camp felt deserted. Camels snorted and stomped at the dust as he passed them, corralled on the edge of the oasis. Just beyond the oasis loomed the mountain, the cravasse barely visible, just men going in and out, disappearing and reappearing with buckets filled with rocks. The sound of the machinery crushing rocks and rushing water floated on the harsh desert wind. Two guards were outside the entrance, dogs on leashes, semi-automatics over their shoulders. John blended in with the group returning underground. He grabbed a bucket and followed them inside, the entrance narrow because of the tracks.
A musty smell of stagnant water mixed with rock and chemicals hit him. He found the shaft he needed. The map still clear in his mind. The lights that lined this shaft flickered intermittently. The shadows felt comfortable. Men passed by as he hid himself in them. The narrow shaft opened up wide, the room he wanted to the left. Hadi explained that there is a back way inside the server room, through an office. He found the room empty. The sound of running made him dart behind the door. Men ran past, their guns ready, a voice coming through the walkie-talkie about gun fire north of the camp. He checked his watch, just in time. Beneath the door on the far wall, light filtered. He had to be quick. His heart thumped and breath quickened. He tried the door — unlocked – he found the room empty, the computer he needed unoccupied, rows of servers lined the walls, a communication station in the middle of the room.
John typed in the password Hadi gave him, found the files, their plans, their agents, their locations, copied it all to the drive.
The sound of the door opening and he ducked beneath the desk. It took time to download everything. He peeked around the desk, a shot rang out toward his head and he ducked back. He saw the man’s reflection through a screen from across the room, figuring out his location and fired a couple rounds. He heard chairs rolling around across the room. More shots went over his head, landing in the wall behind him. The download finished. He fired a shot, grabbed the usb, fired again and ducked behind the desk again. John aimed at the light above him, sparks flew, distracting the man, and fired again, hitting him in the chest and he went down. He ran out of the door into the office and back into the corridor, making his way back through the shafts, hiding in the shadows as more men ran by. He got to the entry and a shot hit next to him in the wall. He kept running. An explosion, then another, men ran in all the directions, shouting and pointing.
PART 3, click here.
