No Woman Left Behind by Julie Moffett

Author:Julie Moffett [Moffett, Julie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Carina Press
Published: 2015-06-01T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Seven

I rubbed the back of my neck to work out the knots. “So, what language do they speak in the Central Republic of Africa? What if I can’t communicate with this elder?”

“The national languages are French and Sango,” Wills said. “I speak French, so I can help out as necessary. However, we’ll take a recording device to capture whatever he says, just in case.”

“Good idea.”

After another intense fifteen minutes of operational planning, the group split up. Hands took the SEAL team members who would be part of tonight’s actual operation for a mock run-through of the operation using a couple of empty barracks on the base. Gray and Captain Bischoff went to brief the CIA and NSA. Two SEAL guys, Jimbo and Boots, and a young guy with Naval Intelligence named Jason, stayed behind. Their responsibility was to prepare me for the jump, show me how to use the equipment, and to give me a final intelligence briefing.

Before we got started, we decided to hunt down the source of the bad smell we’d been enduring. Jimbo found it right beneath my chair.

“It looks like the fox took a crap under your chair,” he said.

I peered under my chair. “What?”

Boots handed him a plastic bag and Jimbo scooped up the poop, tying the plastic bag at the top. “That’s one weird animal.”

“Why did he do it under my chair?”

“True love, I guess. Or he’s marking you.” Jimbo laughed.

“Very funny. Ugh.”

After the bag had been disposed of and I put the fox out of my mind, we sat and got down to the serious business of war.

Unfortunately we started with the jump.

“You’ll be safely strapped to your partner for the jump,” Jimbo said to me. “So, you’ve really got little to do except hang on. Okay?”

I swallowed. “What if we get separated? I won’t have my own parachute, right?”

“You won’t get separated. No way. We’ll check, double-check and triple-check the lines. You’re the asset, so I guarantee you’ll be the safest one in the operation. Understood?”

“Intellectually, yes.”

“This is how it goes down. The teams will get a six-minute call. That means you have six minutes until jump. The pilot will open the ramp. You’ll line up with your partner. When the yellow light goes on, you’ll get the order to hang. That means you and your partner must get into position. The best position is with your toes hanging off the ramp so you don’t hit your shins on the way out. You will get the green signal to go and you’ll jump. That’s it. It’s a hell of a lot of fun.”

I stood up. “I have to use the restroom. I’ll be back in a minute.”

I found the bathroom and sat on the toilet lid, trying to calm my racing heart. I couldn’t do this. I knew myself. I couldn’t jump. The plan would be ruined and Elvis would die. All because my heart would stop the second I stepped out into space. I’d be dead weight—literally—and the plan would have to be aborted.

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