Ramrod Intercept by Don Pendleton

Author:Don Pendleton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Worldwide Library
Published: 2013-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Major Thalib Ghaziz was having some serious difficulty swallowing the young Iranian’s version of what the youth was calling the great slaughter. No, actually this Aziz Ahad was sitting there, squirming around in the metal chair, calling it the mother of all slaughters, as if he’d heard that so many times from Saddam it was the phrase of the ultimate warrior who had survived the ultimate battle. But who among even the wisest of older men, Ghaziz thought, could account for either the wild imagination or the simple inexperience of the young, who thought they both knew it all and were invincible?

In truth, he knew they were neither. He had been around for a long while, and he had learned the hard way whatever truths there were in life. The young, like this Iranian, like his own children, tended to think of only their own role in whatever scheme of things were the day’s events, how they matched up, how they looked, how they came out of it.

Self-centered.

They also believed, he thought, they could lie to their elders, those placid old goats who had been around for decades, feeble and decaying before youth. But he saw himself as a stalwart agent of reality, bred out of hardship and deprivation, climbing the ladders of life’s success before this Iranian was even a twinkle in the eyes of his father.

Such foolishness for this Iranian boy, not much more than eighteen, if he judged the smooth, unlined, near babylike features correct, to think he could dupe, scam a man, no, a soldier who had personally killed in battle with the black SPLA rebels more men than he had wet dreams.

Ghaziz made himself look interested, rapt and ready to buy it all. There were pieces of the puzzle missing, Ghaziz was certain, and it had more to do with the youth’s sudden wish to look heroic than anything else, the Iranian all but tipping his hand on his cowardice.

One other thing Ghaziz understood about human nature. Most people created their own problems. In this case, the Iranian youth, by fleeing and leaving his comrades to do the dying, had created a nightmare for himself. He couldn’t possibly know it yet, but this Iranian wouldn’t live past breakfast.

Ghaziz leaned back in his swivel chair behind his desk. Behind the youth, two of his soldiers were working with a fury trying to raise the two patrols who had left the base hours ago. No luck. Ghaziz could be sure something had happened to them, but what, and how they met some violent end he couldn’t say.

“So, it is as I said,” the youth continued, in his panting voice, glancing with worry over his shoulder toward the soldiers.

“Interesting. Go on. One man, you say?”

“Yes.”

“American? Arab?”

“I did not hear him speak. There was so much shooting, the explosions, it was all I could do to fight my way out of there and come to you with this report.”

“Interesting. Perhaps you were too afraid to notice if there were other gunmen running about.

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.