Barry Eisler - The Detachment

“None. But the fields look perfectly crossable.”

“You’re looking at the satellite photos. What’s my best point of access?”

“Drive east of the road and go in by foot. That’ll put you on the other side of the granary, and should give you some cover and concealment. I imagine Gillmor is armed.”

“All right, I’ll let the rest of the team know. Call me if there’s a change.”

“Roger that.”

“Oh, and Horton?”

“Yes?”

“If this is another setup, you better kill every last one of us. Because if there’s even one left, he will find you.”

There was a pause. “I don’t expect to live long in any event, but yes, understood. And good luck.”

I clicked off. Kanezaki had the van up to nearly a hundred. I was glad the road was flat and straight, but I thought the van might tear itself apart en route regardless.

“Okay,” I said, using the commo, “that was Horton. We’ve got a fix on Gillmor. Kanezaki and I are on the way, ETA fifteen minutes. Assuming we don’t crash first.”

“I’m in position,” Treven said. “Teachers are arriving. And some kids. Cop at the front entrance.”

“In position,” Larison said. “Dox, you there?”

“Not only am I here,” Dox said, in his serene sniper voice, “but I’m looking at you at this very moment right through my little reticled scope. I’m glad we worked out all our animosity earlier, aren’t you?”

There was no answer. Dox said, “Hey, man, I’m just kidding.”

“Goddamn it, don’t kid like that!” I said, fearing another eruption, hoping my intervention would placate Larison.

We hit a pothole and the van almost went into orbit. “Jesus!” I said, pulling my seatbelt tighter.

Kanezaki, serene as Dox, said, “Sorry.”

He kept it pinned until we turned off the two-lane, and by the time we came to the dirt road to the granary, he had it under the speed limit. We kept going for another quarter mile, and then he pulled over to the side in a dip in the road. “I’m not waiting in the van,” he said. “And we don’t have time to argue about it.”

He was probably right. “Okay,” I said. “Stay to my left as we approach. When we get to the granary, you circle left, I’ll circle right. Let me engage Gillmor first, okay?”

“Why?”

“It’s not about the glory. If the drone’s still on the ground, we can just shoot him, or you can, it doesn’t matter to me. But if the drone’s up, we have to try to make him bring it back, right?”

“That’s a good point.”

“Yeah, I try to think of things like that.”

“Okay, you engage him first.”

“Good idea. Also, let’s not assume he’s alone. Keep your eyes open. If Gillmor’s at the controls and you see someone else, then by all means, shoot the other guy, he’ll just be security, and that’ll be one less thing we have to worry about.”

“Got it.”

He looked scared. It wasn’t confidence-inspiring.

I glanced at the HK he was holding. “You know how to use that, right?”

“I’ve had the training, yeah.”

Which was another way of saying, but not the experience.

“Okay,” I said. “Remember. Aggressive stance, gorilla grip, front site on the target, press the trigger.”

He gave me a tight grin. “Dox always said you micromanage.”

Damn it, he was right. He was either going to perform or not. Whatever I said to him at this point wasn’t going to make the difference.

“All right,” I said. “Let’s go.” For the benefit of the others, I said, “Kanezaki and I are moving in on the granary now. Should be on target in five minutes.”

We headed north a quarter mile across flat grassland, then west, keeping low and moving quickly. There was a stand of trees between us and our objective, but, other than that, no cover or concealment anywhere. I tried not to think about snipers and what we would look like if one were watching us from that granary. When we reached the trees, we paused. I could see the granary. It was circular, about twenty feet high, but it was crumbling and offered no sniper hides, at least nothing that looked in our direction. Thank God. I couldn’t see around it. There was a truck partly visible next to a pond to the right, which might have been good news, but no sign of people. We were going to be in a hell of a jam if Hort’s intel was wrong, and there was nobody here.

“Children going in the front entrance,” I heard Dox say in the ear-piece. “Lots of ’em. Walking in from the neighborhood and some getting dropped off by their parents. No sign of our shooters.”

“My side’s clear, too,” Larison said.

“Same,” Treven said.

“John, I hope you’re in position,” Dox said. “Our timeline’s getting kind of tight.”

I didn’t want to speak, but I tapped the boom twice with a finger.

“Roger that,” Dox said.

I looked at Kanezaki. He was pale. I hoped he was going to be okay. I inclined my head toward the granary. He nodded once and we moved in, our guns up now. I didn’t know who’d trained him, but I had to admit they’d done a good job. Despite his obvious fear, he had his HK out at high-ready, his head was swiveling to increase his range of vision, and he propelled himself with a nice, smooth shuffle.

We reached the wall of the granary. It smelled of earth and hay and I had the urge to cling to it you always get just before you move out from your last position of decent cover. Still no sign of anyone at the truck.

I signaled left to Kanezaki. He nodded and moved off. I headed right.

At the limit of the structure’s circumference, I crouched and darted my head around and then back. In the instant I’d been exposed I’d seen Gillmor, a tall, wiry Caucasian in hunting fatigues and with a graying high-and-tight. He was standing, facing the road, working the keyboard of what looked like a large laptop suspended at waist level from a strap around his neck.

I stepped around, the HK on him. I checked my flanks quickly, then said in a loud, command voice, “Gillmor. Do not move.”

He started and glanced over at me. But his hands stayed at the controls.

“Get your hands up!” I shouted.

I heard Dox in my ear: “Shooters have arrived. Running at the front entrance. Larison, you win the prescience prize. Engaging them now.”

I heard a soft crack. Another. Then two more.

“Thank you for playing,” Dox said. “Next contestants.”

“Your four shooters are done!” I said, swiveling left and right to check my flanks. “They didn’t even make it inside. Now hands up, or you’re dead right there!”

He raised his hands and turned to look at me.

“Circle him!” I called out to Kanezaki. “Watch the truck, I don’t know if there’s anyone inside it.”

Kanezaki moved out, past Gillmor, his HK up.

Gillmor glanced at him, then back to me. “Who sent you? Was it Horton?”

“Call it back,” I said. “The drone.”

“No.”

“Call it back,” I said, my voice flat-lining. “I won’t ask again. I will shoot you in the head.”

“It doesn’t matter whether I die,” he said, nodding. “The mission will still succeed.”

Okay , I thought, and shot him in the head. The HK kicked, there was a crack about as loud as the thump of a sewing machine, and a hole appeared in his forehead. His body shuddered, his knees buckled, and he folded to the ground on his back.

“Jesus Christ!” Kanezaki shouted. “How are we going to stop the drone now?”

“Check the truck!” I said. “And stay alert.”

I heard Dox chuckle. “Cop’s freakin’ out. He’s wondering, ‘Who were these four guys who were charging me, and why did their heads all suddenly uncork?’”