Seals Strategic Warfare: Operation No Man's Land by Mike Martell

Author:Mike Martell
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2015-08-04T00:00:00+00:00

THE BRIEFING

Cooks prepared a hot breakfast for the visitors in the boat’s galley. Eggs to order, hot links and bacon, hashbrown potatoes, gravy, grits and biscuits, French toast, milk, orange juice, and as much hot coffee as they could drink. Other sailors, curious about the men who arrived so dramatically by air, came into the galley for breakfast, a cup of coffee, and a look-see at the strangers. Although the team members were curious about what mission had once more led to their being jerked out of Serbia, they did not, could not talk about it when others might overhear. Even their control spook did not yet know the details of the mission.

“I purposely refrained from being briefed on it because I was flying in to retrieve you,” Smith explained. “In the event the plane should go down or something.”

He looked across the table at John Nighthorse. “How’s the head?” he asked. “I understand you were wounded. Better let the corpsmen check you out just in case.”

The lieutenant stopped eating. In a lowered voice, he said to Smith, “That’s something we need to talk to you about. How can we tell the good guys from the bad guys when even the good guys are bombing civilians?”

“I know. Word’s already gotten out. It’s officially being denied.”

“It happened,” Hamilton insisted with uncharacteristic passion. “We were there. We saw women and kids being killed by American bombs. Don’t you tell me that was a mistake or a miscalculation.”

“I don’t know what it was,” Smith admitted. “I’m not asking you to forget it. What I’m saying is that there’s nothing we can do about it right now. We have a much bigger job to see that it all stops before the world gets out of hand. Concentrate on that.”

Hamilton was tired. Perhaps that was clouding his perspective. Smith was right. They had a job to do. Everything else would have to wait. He rubbed his face wearily with both hands. He knew enough about war to understand that things happened on both sides; the winner was the one who dictated the terms afterward.

“All right,” the lieutenant conceded. “But how about this? Somebody on our side tipped off the Serbs about where the package was hidden. If we had been ten minutes later, we wouldn’t have gotten it.”

“But you did get it,” Smith said, keeping his voice low and looking about at the other tables to make sure no one was listening. “It’s safe in our hands now. That’s what counts.”

“It also counts if everywhere we go the Serbs also show up.”

“They don’t know about you,” Smith argued. “They only know about what brought you there. We’ve increased security all the way up and down the line.”

“Yeah?” Dog said sarcastically. “You’re the government and you’re here to help us?”

Smith smiled. “Something like that. Now let’s all get some rest.”

The team, in fact, felt much better and ready for action after sleeping and putting on dry, clean dungarees. Twiggy, dressed in shirt, sweater, slacks, and deck shoes, received them in the wardroom for the briefing.

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