September 14, 1977

 

In less than an hour he heard Bernadette and Terry coming through the scrub pines. He slowly worked his way back out of the clump of mountain laurel covering their observation post and went back to meet them.

“Something big is going on down there. I just saw a Russian expert on terrorism, whose picture I’ve seen, get out of a car right below our observation post. His face was lit up by match lighting his cigarette as I was focused on him. There is no doubt the man is Yuri Kolenko. He would only be here if something big was going down. We may have to stay here for a while. I found a small spring just 20 yards down the western slope.

“Two things have to be done. The first is get into that cement block building and the second is to block the road out of here. We don’t have the tools or manpower to build a blockade they couldn’t remove in a few hours. So we ambush the first vehicle leaving the valley. “Anyone have any ideas?”

“Will we have to shoot our way into the building?” Bernadette asked.

“No. They won’t be expecting any opposition. I can pick the lock and take a look inside. I expect the building is a bomb-making location, and no one will be on the inside unless they are working on a bomb.”

“We have to be careful moving around. I saw three two-person teams go out on patrol. I suspect one team will remain in the valley and the other two will patrol the ridgeline around the valley. Most likely 20 or 30 feet from the edge of the ridge. It will be a while before they get here. Bernadette, you and I have to get out of our ghillie suits. They won’t help us once we are in the camp.

“Questions, scenarios, comments?”

Terry said, “It seems to me that if there is a bomb, it’s the priority item. We should do our best to avoid the patrols. We don’t know if they have radios with them, but they should. If we have to deal with them it has to be fast and quiet.”

“Bernadette, any comments?”

“Yes, I’m thinking that the sooner we get in the valley the better. There is some natural movement by the people left at the site. We may be able to mimic their movement pattern. We’ve seen both males and females in the camp. Peter and I should take on the building recon, while Terry covers us with his rifle from a point where he can see the building’s entrance with the night vision stuff.”

“Makes sense to me,” Peter said. “Let’s do it. Remember who these people are. Don’t hesitate to shoot. No prisoners. No extra risks. Terry, let’s go over your sketch of the camp and plan our route to the block building and return.”

Terry spread out his sketch and with a dimmed flashlight planned a route to get to the target building. Terry’s sketch with distances was clear. Peter asked, “How accurate are these distances?”

“Maybe an error margin of five yards every hundred.”

“Bernadette, can you put this map into your wonderful recall memory and count steps as we go?”

“Sure, let me focus on it for a few minutes.”

Peter walked over to his pack and took out 175 feet of nylon line and a set of gloves. He asked Bernadette, “Do you know how to repel down a cliff face?”

“Yes, but I have only had limited experience and mostly down buildings.”

“That’ll work. Get your gloves out.”

Terry broke in. “I’ve plotted a route for you. It’s better if you don’t take the sketch with you. Give Bernadette one more look, pick your time, and go. I figure a patrol could be by here in 15 minutes.”

“The nylon line is dark,” Peter said. “We can leave it in place. If anyone is looking that close, they’ll find our boot marks coming down the mostly bare clay slope. Okay. Bernadette, let’s go. People down there are carrying rifles so we can carry ours.”