The Watchers by Mark Andrew Olsen

Author:Mark Andrew Olsen
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Suspense, Christian, Fiction
ISBN: 0764228188
Publisher: Bethany House
Published: 2007-03-01T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER

_ 34

CHALLENGER 600 JET, 46,000 FEET ABOVE THE AZORES

He was only three-quarters of the way across the Atlantic, yet from his telecommunications-laden captain’s chair, Shadow Leader was already well under way in organizing a tightening knot of pursuit around the escaped girl and her accomplices three thousand miles hence.

He had acted with such swiftness partly out of a lifelong habit of extreme efficiency. In this case, however, that had been last among his motivations. Rather, the situation itself had imposed upon him more urgency than usual. In fact, he had left New York hyper-aware that the scythe was poised to swing toward him.

He had failed, and he knew the price for failure. He had already been warned. He had harvested that price many times himself. As a result, he had not waited for his superiors’ responses to the initial failure in Nigeria. And he certainly wasn’t going to wait on the initiative of his African counterparts. Instead, he chartered a private jet and vowed to travel there and extract a victory in person, no matter how brutal he had to be.

He was on the phone to one Nigerian general, on hold with one member of the Nigerian cabinet and a source at the NRO, the American National Reconnaissance Office, on the subject of acquiring real-time satellite data of the fugitives’ escape path.

Then the call came from on high. The one he always dreaded.

“Shadow Leader,” growled the voice from hell. “I see you have deemed it wise to take the initiative.”

“I have indeed, sir. And things are going so well, we may have the situation in hand before I even land.”

“Pray tell me?”

“Well, to begin with, within the hour I will have twice-hourly thermal images from the NRO.”

“Please explain, my dear boy. You know I come from another generation. . . .”

“The National Reconnaissance Agency maintains all of America’s intelligence satellite fleet. If they feel the need, they can provide imaging of any spot on earth, except for the poles, I assume, down to a one-foot radius and tasked according to a dozen different variables. The thermal, or heat-sensitive filter, does the best job of spotting human bodies against a wilderness background.”

“And what does this pie-in-the-sky picture do for you?”

“First let me tell you about our mop-up assets on the ground. I have a third of the original attack squad, augmented by a hundred more jungle-trained guerrillas just waiting for the go-ahead. They’ll be supported by three Nigerian Army Hueys, a dozen mortars, and one American-made cluster bomb, armed and loaded.”

“Is that all?”

“Plus we have all the national borders sewn up. The Lagos air traffic control is on a heavy lookout for any unauthorized traffic. She won’t be leaving by any airport, that’s for sure.”

“And our Shadow Man, are we sure that he turned?”

“It appears that way, sir.”

“You should have brought him all the way in to the Brotherhood.”

“Yes. That appears to be my mistake.”

“You know how much I care for you, my son.”

“Thank you. I . . . feel likewise, sir.

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