Mike looked at Janette. "He's up?" He asked. Janette nodded. "Good. Because we'll be moving with in the hour. I've
got that long to pour coffee down his throat." Though the Delta had actually gotten a decent few hours of sleep.
"You don't look so good yourself." Janette told the young man and Mike chuckled.
"Should have seen me before, Mrs. White. Should have seen me before."
"Have you eaten?" She wanted to know and he chuckled again.
"Yes, ma'am. Just before I headed over here in fact."
"What did you find?" She asked softly and he couldn't resist the same tone Andi used when she was hopeful and
trying not to be either. He sighed.
"We've got some heat signatures. Big ones. Campfires and clustered people. He's got his troops divided pretty
strategically and we think we might have his base camp pinned down. We're hoping they've got her there." All
classified information but who was she going to tell? She nodded, frowning.
"So how will you know?"
"Old fashioned way." Mike supplied. "We sneak close and have a look with our beady little eyes."
Hector left the tent, and Mike was so distracted, as was Janette, that he slipped by them, and he headed over to the
command tent where William handed him a cup of tea.
"It has more caffeine in it, no matter what you uncivilized Yanks think." He said blandly as he gestured to the maps.
"We've got a good lead on her, between the fax, the jeep, the living sources." He gave Hector a pointed look. Hector
might not have left them alive after the interrogation.
Hector drank the tea, he preferred coffee, but he'd take what he could get. He looked at the infrared maps. "So
what's the plan?"
William pointed to a cluster. "We're betting this is home base. We're going to hit it."
"We're loading up in about an hour." William continued. "Going to take choppers in until we're close enough and then
foot it the rest of the way. We can't set down too close or they'll know we're coming and since we can't keep birds in
the sky we're not even sure she's there, much less which hut they'd have her in. Bad news is - if they spot any of us,
we've just tipped our whole hand. So we're sending in a small recon squad first to scout and the rest of us will follow
once they signal it’s a go and join them. Then we all hit it together." He tapped the photo in front of him. "Small camp.
Lots of movement and people though. We think the big man himself might be here." Double coup. His first priority was
the hostage of course. Alive and unharmed. But he wouldn't protest if he got the added bonus of taking down a
warlord either. Saints knew the monster needed it.
Mike joined them about then.
"You're sending Jet on the recon squad?" He asked it like a question and said it like a statement. William nodded with
a twist of his lips.
"He's the best I've got. Even among my own men. And I figure that'll make you two stay put and trust me until we get
word of whether she's there or not."
"Right." Mike agreed calmly before Hector could get anything out. "Second wave."
Hector bit his tongue. The stress and weight was still there, but he was well rested enough to deal with it at least. Deal
with it quietly at least. And he knew, he knew logically, that William was right. It killed him, but the Brit was right.
"We'll hang tight and make preparations." Hector agreed reluctantly. Weapons, short trip supplies...he could be kept
busy.
William looked at Hector in surprise, he didn't expect Hector to give in that easily, and had more arguments on the tip
of his tongue, which he had to swallow as he nodded.
"Right then." He nodded. "Gear up and grab some food. We're going in thirty minutes." Mike gave a nod and William
turned and walked back to the group that was planning a temporary base camp and the best place to set everyone
down. Mike offered Hector a mug of coffee that was still scalding and took a sip from his own.
"We're all riding out together." He stated conversationally. "Then the rest of them are setting up and sitting tight while
the recon squad goes in on foot." He looked calmly out the flaps of the tent that were pulled back. "Chances are,
recon squad'll find out exactly where she is and secure that point if it’s not possible to just sneak her out. The rest of
them come in on choppers and light things up after that." He wasn't stating anything the Delta didn't already know
since it was standard operating. Standard because it worked. He was just stating it now because he wanted to phrase
things right. Taking another sip of his coffee he stated after a moment: "Andi's clue. Embalming. This guy has his
men paint themselves up white at night and has his witch doctor cast over them. Makes them 'dead men'." His voice
was steady and anger hid under its soft edges. "Andi's 'ghosts in the night'."
Surprisingly, Hector smiled. Relief in his features. "Good girl." He said. That meant she had the peace of mind to send
them a sign, a clue to narrow down her location. And despite the fact that she was with a mad shaman, that was still
something to smile about and let some of the tenseness out of his shoulders. He looked at Mike as he drank his
coffee, ignoring the fire that burned down his throat from the scalding liquid. He needed caffeine, and no matter what
William said, tea just didn't do it for him. "This will be over soon."
Mike shook his head.
"You're strange enough when you're not rested." He complained. Exhaled and ran a hand through his hair. "Half an
hour. I'm going to go tell Suz what's what" he drained the last of his coffee. "Brits have some kind of weird 'kippers'
thing if you're hungry." He gestured. "I'll see you at the choppers." He started to turn and then stopped. "Don't bug
Baker, all right? Man hasn't slept yet. He's been the one decoding the photos."
Hector gave him a look in return. Wasn't like Baker had given him a break when he hadn't slept. Not anything near a
break, starting on him as soon as he set foot in the Red Cross camp.
Then again, it wasn't like Hector didn't appreciate what Baker was doing. It was a weird situation complicated by
stress and high stakes. He knew he wasn't being rational and reasonable, but could anyone truly expect him to be
cold and logical about all this?
"I'll try." He promised. "Even better, I'll stay completely away. Screw the kappers or whatever they are, I'm going to get
some cereal. See you by the choppers."
The edges of Mike's mouth twitched upward.
"Yeah and Andi won't pronounce your food either." He commented before turning and heading out of the tent.
Suzette was being surprisingly subdued but he didn't think for a moment that she wouldn't still skin him alive if he let
something go down without her knowing at least that something was going down.
"She already doesn't." He said with a grin, remembering her take on his 'gumpo' as he exited the tent to grab a quick
bowl of corn flakes or whatever before going to the choppers.
Suzette was waiting patiently for someone to give her news. Or she'd get it herself. She had ways that the army of
men had no clue about until it was too late. For all their flak helmets and body armor and weapons, she knew the
majority of them were defenseless when it came to her. But she'd wait for Mike first.
"So what are we doing?" She pounced on him when he crossed her path. "Are we close?"
Mike managed a tired smile for the French woman. At least he was out there doing something. For her this had to be
even more frustrating. Having to sit and wait and he already knew her faith in the male ability to solve problems wasn't
the best. He sat down on a nearby bench.
"They did some overheads, with jets, last night. Picked up heat sources. That list we got that Andi wrote - it had a
clue that confirmed where we could look for her and it agreed with where they'd traced the fax. So now we've got a
good guess of where she probably is and we're going in." He looked up at Suz. They were both sharing guilt over not
having kept a better eye on the tall English doctor that night. Even though they both knew they shouldn't be. Like that
mattered. "I can't guarantee that that's where she is, Suz. I can't promise it. But it’s a good chance." Repeating
Hector's words, he stated: "This'll be over soon."
The tiny French woman sat down on the bench next to him. Worry still in her eyes. "Hector is coming with you?"
Mike chuckled. "Try to keep him away."
Suzette relaxed slightly. "Bien." Mike looked down at her with a soft smile and didn't say anything. She looked
embarrassed and looked away. "I used to fear what he would do to her. Now I think the men holding Andi should fear
what he will do to them."
"Is that trust I hear?" Mike asked gently and Suz gave him a tight smile.
"I think so." She admitted. "No one will ever love Andi the way he does." Mike exhaled and looked out at the busy
camp.
"I know." He stated quietly.
Suzette reached over and slid her smaller hand into Mike's rougher one and squeezed. "We were right to call him. He
will stop at nothing until she's back." She had doubted that, honestly, that commitment, but for the only time in her life
was glad to be proven wrong.
She sighed as she gazed out at the camp also. "Seems so empty without her." She said softly. "Be careful." She said,
she couldn't bear losing two of her friends.
Hector was by the choppers scarfing down some frosted flakes he found and drinking the coffee as he helped with
the packs. He felt useful as long as his hands were busy and his mind didn’t have much time to idle on w hat might be
happening to Andi, what she might be going through...and that was safer for everyone around him. Especially Baker,
neither man had time to waste over something petty as past words, and both men knew it, but...
Mike gave a crooked smile.
"I'm always careful, Suz." He assured her, giving her small hand a light squeeze in return. And - she was right. Andi
had a way of filling the area she was in. Her personality, quiet and gentle or teasing and laughing, taking up more
room than her slim form. You forgot how frail she was.
Until times like this.
"He's bringing her with him. He's going back to the States after this and he wants to take her with him." His voice was
low and Suzette looked up at him, eyes stricken.
"But we will just have gotten her back!" She protested. Mike nodded. Rubbed at the back of his head. Looked around.
"Would you want her to stay? Surrounded by all the memories this place is going to trigger?"
Suzette leaned her shoulder against his arm. The closest she ever got to hugging.
"I'm so worried about her." She whispered. "What this will do to her."
Mike exhaled and simply held her hand.
"Me too, Suz. Me too."
Sean was waiting by the last of the packs when Hector came back for it. Thumbs hooked in the pockets of his pants,
watching the activity on the tarmac with his daughter's thoughtful eyes even if his were several shades lighter in color.
She got her looks, mostly, from her mother. But what was inside her was closer to her father.
"Got tired of being told I was distracting the children from their lessons." He stated calmly. Another way of saying his
wife had thrown him out.
Hector chuckled and grinned at Sean. "Or as my grandfather would say, time to get my testosterone back." He said
with a humorous glint in his eye. Meaning his grandmother had kicked him and the rest of the men out because they
were underfoot, or in her hair.
His hands never stopped their automatic movement. He'd packed packs like this a million times before, he could do it
in his sleep. "I know I'd be a distraction. Last time I was here for a length of time got them all addicted to Paul Bunyan
and Big Blue. American stories."
"John Henry, Pacos Bill, Cassie Jones." Sean nodded before giving Hector a sideways smile. "I loved those stories
growing up. Cowboys and Indians and wild frontiers. I grew up with steel workers. It was hard to find heroes who
worked with their hands and the sweat of their brows in English fairy tales. And Arthur never appealed. So I went
overseas in my mind." He watched the packing, curious and not asking, the same way his daughter did. Knowing
when distractions weren't needed. Noting both that the young man in front of him apparently told stories to children
as well. And that he looked better today. Not all right. But better than he had yesterday.
He rolled his shoulders. Wishing there was something physical he could do as well. Build a house for instance.
Something to keep himself busy. He dealt with things better when his hands were busy. Unfortunately everything here
was either military or Red Cross and he'd been informed several times to keep his hands to himself. Hence the
thumbs in his pockets.
"Aside from the way that bloke on the other side of the camp is avoiding you, what's going on?" He asked mildly.
Watching the young man in front of him calmly. Because something was definitely in the wind. He just didn't know
what.
"Those are the ones." Hector said with a chuckle, about the American folklore legends. "Unlike recent English
memory, America was built by sweat and blood of big strong hands, that's the main difference I guess." There hadn't
been a 'wild frontier' in Europe since the Dark Ages after all.
He glanced over at Baker at Sean's mentioning of him and shrugged. "We're getting ready to go to the camp where
she is. Bring her back here. Probably cause some chaos in those mountains while we've got the chance." He said,
loading magazines into his rifle and locking them into the chamber.
Sean's eyes were steady and not for an instant a fool's. But all he said in his calm voice was:
"Just that easy?"
"It will seem that easy when we're done." Hector responded honestly. And it would. Once all the tension was gone,
once the stakes weren't as high, it would all seem like a cake walk if anyone cared to remember it. 'Oh I tromped
around the African countryside, raised a little hell, made everyone think I was nuts, but in the end it was simple...
snatch and grab.' That sort of thing. In the meantime, Hector didn't even want to know what his blood pressure was.
He looked at Sean and met his eyes. "We'll bring her back. I promise."