The Backup Plan (Jim Ryker Thrillers Book 1) by Nick Thacker & Kevin Tumlinson

Author:Nick Thacker & Kevin Tumlinson [Thacker, Nick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Conundrum Publishing
Published: 2022-10-11T16:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-THREE

KHARIF STRONGHOLD, SOMEWHERE IN KATAKSTAN

Faraz wiped his hands with a dish towel, dropping it on the counter as he stepped out of the small kitchen and into the dusty courtyard. The trucks were returning. And they had brought him a guest.

The conflict at the American base had gone poorly, in Faraz’s estimate. His people saw it as victory—they celebrated with chants and prayers, firing their weapons in the air, praising and thanking God. They smiled and danced, had their palms outward and tilted their head back in the ecstasy of communion with God.

But Faraz did not join them. Because despite the destruction of the FOB, despite routing the Americans out of the base and sending them to the border, this victory had been a failure.

The objective had been to capture the base, to add it to their resources as they had with so many other American weapons, vehicles, and structures within their borders. Faraz had intended to capture the personnel and use them for gathering intelligence and as hostages for bartering, or to make examples of them. He had planned this operation to such perfection that they had isolated the Americans for weeks, removing any possibility of communication with the outside world, and slowly taking ground and overwhelming outstations until the base itself was the only thing left standing.

The plan had fallen apart after a flock of American drones carpeted the desert with their bombs and weapons fire. And the walls of the base—the target Faraz had most wanted to acquire—fell like Jericho, becoming so much rubble among the sands of the desert. If there was anything useful left in that debris, it would take months to recover, and at great risk and expense. This made it effectively worthless, and all of their effort over the past several weeks was now a complete waste of time and resources.

It was not a victory.

It was an insult.

Faraz couldn’t help but think that the arrival of the lone American man had somehow tipped the balance in this operation. It seemed impossible, but from everything Faraz was learning, from the men returning to report what they’d found, the moment of the man’s arrival at the base had signaled the collapse of all of the Kharif’s efforts there—the collapse of all of Faraz’s planning.

The evacuation had been too well organized, too in sync with the arrival of the drone strike. This indicated that the Americans had somehow regained communication and coordinated with their reinforcements and allies. Something Faraz had thought would be impossible, since the Kharif had used an electromagnetic pulse and numerous strategically targeted mortar strikes to destroy their communication equipment. So it must surely have been the American operative who had brought them a way to reach the outside world.

And, because Faraz’s own people had not done their jobs properly, had not been diligent in their work, they had been in no position to block communication the second time.

Faraz couldn’t tolerate that sort of failure. And though it saddened him, he knew that the one to pay the price would have to be his dear, childhood friend.

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