Raid on Somalia by Eric Meyer

Author:Eric Meyer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Swordworks Books

* * *

He stood under an icy shower, washing out the last of the grime and misery from the failed mission into Mogadishu. Cate had brought the helo down into the sea when the fuel finally ran out, and they’d paddled around for a half hour. Some of them clung to the life raft which was too small for all of them, while they waited for the RIBs to reach them. After that, it was a fast boat ride to the boarding platform of the Abraham Lincoln where Colonel Hakim was waiting for them. He wore an expression that bore several different emotions, but happiness was not one of them. There was no greeting. He held out his hand.

“The laptop, Lieutenant.”

Talley put his right arm down; having mistakenly assumed the Colonel was inviting a handshake. He took the Apple MacBook Air from under his jacket. He’d kept it dry when he stepped out of the helo into the life raft and from the life raft into the RIB, careful to avoid damaging their sole trophy from the raid.

“It should be okay, Colonel. But I’ve no idea if there’s anything of value on it. I’m sorry about the rest.”

Hakim stared at him. “I don’t blame you, Talley. I was monitoring your communications, and I think I know what went wrong. But sadly, what I know is of no interest to our superiors in NATO and the UN. There was a lot of opposition to NATFOR, as you know. This is our first real test, and so far, it doesn’t look so good.”

Talley shrugged. “They ought to take the long view, Sir. It wasn’t a complete failure. We hit Barre’s infrastructure pretty hard. We killed a lot of his men, and he’ll have a hard time replacing them.”

Hakim sighed. “Lieutenant, for every soldier that falls, he has ten more, a hundred more, lining up to take their place. These people are born into squalor and poverty. The warlords offer their only chance of relief, of any real wealth for them and their families. And the pirates too, of course, but they’re becoming one and the same thing.”

“We also hurt those pirates pretty bad, Sir. That must count for something.”

Hakim nodded. “That’s true, and the hostages are safe. It’s a big plus. However, General Barre and the other principals will recruit more people. There’ll be more men to pirate merchant vessels, and more soldiers to support his terrorist activities inside and outside Somalia; more hostages taken prisoner. Barre was the one we needed. Without him, it’ll all come back with a vengeance. Before the month is out, he’ll have made up his losses.”

“That’s why we have to go back in and finish the job. And there’s also Delta Six. We have to get them out.”

“Haven’t we lost enough men, Lieutenant?”

“That’s just my point, Sir. We can’t abandon Delta Six. Those men have to come home.”

Hakim looked thoughtful. “I’ll take a look at this laptop. It’ll be encrypted, I’ve no doubt, but this ship

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