Hunt the Viper by Don Mann

Author:Don Mann
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Published: 2018-05-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

I accept chaos, I’m not sure whether it accepts me.

—Bob Dylan

Crocker sat with the rest of his Black Cell team in the operations room of the USS Theodore Roosevelt (a.k.a. The Big Stick)—a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier more than three times longer than a football field and home to eighty-six fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters. They were currently located a hundred and ten miles southwest of Tripoli, Libya.

Crocker, Mancini, Akil, CT, Rip, and Danny “Tiny” Chavez were in various states of disorientation following their fourteen-hour journey. Hours from now they would be deploying on an op against an HVT, the details of which still hadn’t been communicated to them. Careful planning and precise execution were paramount to mission success.

So they all felt a sense of urgency as they focused on the satellite images of their target, an Ansar al-Sharia compound thirty-two miles southwest of Benghazi on the big screen in front of them. Other screens featured projections of local maps and a live feed of Lt. Colonel Barbara Smithson from ST-6 HQ.

“First, a little background,” Smithson started. “Ansar al-Sharia translates to ‘Partisans of Islamic Law,’ and they were founded in 2011 during the Libyan Revolution. As the name suggests, their goal is to establish the rule of strict Sharia law throughout North Africa and the Middle East and remove U.S. and Western influence. As you might imagine they’re closely allied with ISIS and have helped supply them with militants and arms.”

“Nice.”

“Their logo is a pair of AK-47s, a clenched fist, a Quran, and a black flag.”

“Pretty much says everything we need to know,” offered Akil.

“Who said that?” Smithson asked.

Akil raised his hand. “I did.”

“Did you know that they’re based in the western Libyan cities of Benghazi, Darnah, Sirte, and Ajdabiya, and also have an active branch in Tunisia?”

“Thanks for filling me in,” answered Akil.

“They’re the ones who directed the Benghazi attacks in 2012 that resulted in the deaths of J. Christopher Stevens, our ambassador, and three other U.S. officials, including two former Navy SEALs.”

“That makes me hate them even more,” Akil groaned as he looked across the table at Crocker. Both of them knew one of the men who had died defending the CIA compound in Benghazi, former Navy SEAL Ty Woods.

“Ty was a good man, a hero,” Crocker commented. “What’s our time window here?” he asked, shifting to the current mission. The history of Ansar al-Sharia could wait until later.

“Our source on the ground tells us that the target, Abu Omar, is there now and will be until noon tomorrow.”

“In the compound?”

“Correct.”

“Where specifically?”

“In the main house. Second-floor bedroom is where he sleeps.”

A close-up of the house appeared on the screen. Looked like a new, modern structure with balconies, columns framing the entrance, and a red-tile roof. A house you might see in the upscale suburbs of Istanbul, Beirut, or even LA. Surrounding it were high walls topped by razor wire, and guard towers. The compound also featured several satellite dishes, parked military vehicles, technicals, and two one-story structures along the back wall.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.