Apocalypse Crucible by Mel Odom

Author:Mel Odom
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Published: 2011-04-08T16:00:00+00:00

United States 75th Army Rangers Temporary Post

Sanliurfa, Turkey

Local Time 0537 Hours

Goose stood in the center of the security office and watched the security cameras the Ranger team used to manage surveillance all over the hotel. Litters of wounded continued to flow into the building, get marked for surgical attention by the triage teams, and get carried away to the appropriate waiting areas.

As he watched, Goose silently prayed that numbness would kick in and take away the horror and frustration that filled him. A soldier best served on a battlefield when somewhat detached from his immediate emotions. He’d experienced the battlefield calm several times before, but those times were generally during the heat of an engagement, not in the aftermath. Once a battle was over, the true cost of the action showed up on the bottom line in spent lives and wounded.

Later, he knew, other squads would bring in their dead. Detail leaders would assemble lists of Killed In Action and Missing In Action. Then the process of sorting the KIAs and MIAs out from the new wreckage of the city would begin.

Artillery continued to boom and fill the hotel with noise, but the frequency had dropped. Captain Mkchian and the Turkish artillery units obviously wanted to make a definitive statement to the retreating Syrian troops. But the ammunition they used was precious and possibly irreplaceable before the Syrians gathered for their next attack. All communications over the channels open to him indicated that the Syrians were in full retreat.

The CIA agent, Winters, sat in his chair. He continued to hold the chemical ice pack to his jaw. Beads of condensation ran down his neck.

Since Cody had appeared in the hallway, Winters hadn’t said a word to Goose. Maybe he was confident that Cody could get him released. Or he’s afraid, Goose thought. He didn’t know which.

Barnett stood behind Winters and leaned against the wall. His presence next to the smaller man remained a constant threat, but Winters didn’t acknowledge that either.

The CIA team was hiding something, Goose knew, and his mind kept prying at what it might be. Icarus’s abduction, the satellite phone call that might have precipitated the Syrian strike into Turkey, and the game of cat and mouse playing out through Sanliurfa’s war-torn streets danced through Goose’s mind.

Icarus was a key player. Keeping the rogue agent out of CIA hands was important for the moment.

“First Sergeant.”

Goose looked at the Ranger private manning the security station. “Yeah.”

“Captain Remington is here.” The private pointed at one of the screens.

Crossing the distance to the security desk, Goose looked at the screen. Electronics teams had moved some of the security cameras outside the building when they’d converted the hotel into a makeshift hospital. The fields of view overlapped so no blind spots existed.

Captain Remington stepped from the Hummer’s passenger seat and walked purposefully into the building. The private made the necessary adjustments to the camera feeds to stay with Remington.

Interest and a little trepidation thrummed inside Goose. The captain hadn’t mentioned that he planned on visiting the hospital.

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