Shiva (14 page)

By the shared pained expression on Emily and Prenner
’
s face
,
that was a big fat
no
.

She shouldn
’
t
have been
surprised
,
though. The men
’
s mission last week had been uber secret. A last ditch effort
,
as a matter of fact. The African country was on the brink of civil war at all times. Trying to negotiate even the most basic humanitarian aid was fraught with danger. Add in a major American military move? That spelled disaster.

“
So they are on their own?
”
Bunny asked despite already knowing the answer.

“
Which is why we need to figure out the Disciples
’
angle. I have assets in the region
,
but I can
’
t engage them until we know the end game
,
”
Emily said as she sat down across from Bunny. The CIA operative pushed the after
-
action reports toward Bunny.
“
There has got to be something in here that gives us a clue.
”

Bunny shoved the papers back.
“
I
’
ve been over them a thousand times. There is
nothing
in there.
”

“
What about what
isn
’
t
in there?
”
Prenner suggested.

Bunny
’
s eyes narrowed.
“
What do you mean?
”

“
All military units are known for let
’
s say
‘
fudging
’
their after
-
action reports. Special Forces, though? Theirs are nicknamed
‘
time-savers
’
since they save the redactors all that precious ink blacking out parts that will never see the light of day.
”

“
Can you give me an example?
”
she asked
,
still not quite understanding how any of this was going to help save Rebeca and the rest.

Prenner pulled out a specific file. The one that covered their time chasing after the Ten Commandments tablets.
“
Did Brandt describe everything that happened in this?
”

Bunny snorted.
Hell, no
. The indoor helicopter incident? Where Lopez stole a Russian military helicopter? Not very likely. The lack of Talli
’
s sniper skills? Completely missing. The report was more a general gist kind of document rather than giving the actual blow-by-blow.

“
It looks like you are getting where I
’
m headed,
”
the lieutenant stated.

She didn
’
t bother answering him
.
I
nstead
,
she dug through the pages
,
trying to find the ones that had bugged her. The ones that seemed incomplete.

* * *

Rebecca watched the snake
’
s forked tongue flicker.

An African
r
ock
p
ython.

Genus
:
p
ython
. Species:
sebae
,
if she
weren
’
t
mistaken. And mistaken she wished she could be. The
r
ock
p
ython was the largest of all African snakes
,
and that damned tongue of its was forked to increase the surface area so that it could more easily detect tropotaxins. Chemical cues that prey was around.

Basically
,
if exhaustion had a smell, Rebecca was doused in it. The snake
probably tasted
an easy meal on the horizon. She had nearly been squeezed to death by a cousin of its in Ecuador and really did not want to relive the experience. However
,
as the metal clasps of the parachute
’
s harness refused to budge, Rebecca feared a repeat performance. Especially since she had been watching the damn snake for about five minutes and had yet to see its tail. It was really annoying that she knew the snake could be as long as twenty feet and could easily consume her, tattered wedding dress and all.

Even if she somehow got out of the tangle
d
harness
,
there was still that nasty twenty
-
foot
drop. Although
,
right about now
,
she would take a broken leg over suffocation via python.

Not a great
P
lan B
,
however.

As a branch snapped as the snake coiled itself around the parachute, working out its crushing muscles, Rebecca worked frantically on the latch. She understood that they didn
’
t want you falling out of the parachute at thousand feet up, but seriously
,
did they have to jungle
-
proof it?

The buzz of insects, so many insects
,
rang in her ears as if they were cheering the python on. Not that it needed much incentive. Side to side
,
it winded its way down the parachute, that tongue testing the air. Making sure she was still
an
easy mark.

One of the latches finally gave way, taking an acrylic nail with it. She slipped through one of the loops, dropping a good foot. The snake must have sense
d
its meal getting away
,
as it sprang open its jaws, striking toward her. Rebecca ducked as its head flew past her. Undeterred, the snake swung back, pulling itself back for another strike. It hadn
’
t spent the last half hour climbing this damned tree to let her go so easily.

Frantic, Rebecca worked at the other carbine, spinning the lock until it
,
too
,
released. Just as the python reared back for another, Rebecca threw herself forward. The scales of the snake
’
s head slide past her arm, leaving a trail of python saliva on her skin.

Caught by her leg, Rebecca dangled upside down, pointed to
ward
the jungle floor. Tangled in the rigging, Rebecca really wished she
’
d done all that
“
core body
”
conditioning Bunny bragged so much about. But seriously
,
who would have thought she would need that kind of muscle strength to escape a python? Bunny probably could have folded herself over and pulled her body weight up to extract herself from the harness.

The best Rebecca could do
,
however
,
was
keep from puking as she swayed above the lush underbrush. Mr. Python wasn
’
t taking this development lying down
,
either. His body squeezed the rigging above her so tightly that even if she had Bunny
’
s abs, Rebecca probably couldn
’
t get her leg out now.

Then the insects silenced. Like all at once. The only sounds left were her pounding
pulse
and the crinkle of the parachute as it was crushed within the python
’
s coils. Maybe the insects didn
’
t have the stomach for what came next
,
after all.

Blood rushing to her head, Rebecca thought her vision was blurring when she saw movement to the right. But there it was again. Could the men have found her?

“
Davidson!
”
she cried.
Dear
G
od
,
could the cavalry really be here?

Then
a
stick hit her in the head.
What the hell?

The source of the projectile charged out of the dense brush directly beneath her. A chimpanzee. Not one
,
but a whole troupe of chimpanzees. And apparently really pissed
-
off chimpanzees.

Face heating up and her leg throbbing
,
Rebecca
was really annoyed
that she knew there were two species of chimps. One that warred and one that lived in communal harmony. Of course
,
man evolved from the war ones. And apparently these chimps were pretty ticked off at their descendant. They hooted and shook the underbrush.

But usually
,
even these chimps weren
’
t so aggressive. Rebecca guessed it was that earthquake last week. Between it and the aftershocks
,
the animals were on edge. Territorial. Deadly.

The snake
’
s head slid across her foot, its tongue flickering across her skin, apparently making sure that she tasted as good as she smelled.

Snake above. Mad apes below.

This day really couldn
’
t get much better. Rebecca could only hope the men were faring better than she.

* * *

“
We
’
re so screwed,
”
Lopez whispered.

Davidson couldn
’
t argue. Not as he watched through his sniper scope the trail of men tracking through the jungle. This was not how this was supposed to go down. The Disciples were supposed to be in open-air vehicles. They were supposed to pull up, en masse, to the center of the village. The kill zone that Davidson and Talli had set up. Then on Lopez
’
s order
,
the shooting was supposed to begin.

Under the cover of that fire, Lopez was going to speed in with the beat
-
up
Pajeros
he
’
d
“
borrowed
”
and whisk Brandt out of there. They would then all me
e
t at the rally point five clicks north.

That plan clearly had to be scraped. Unfortunately
,
there wasn
’
t any easy alternative. The Disciples
’
mercenaries were spread out far and wide, many hidden deep within the thick foliage. Davidson had counted eight already
,
and who knew how many others were out there
?
He hadn
’
t even spotted Brandt yet.

And traveling on foot
,
the enemy
was
going to be far more vigilant than they would have been in a vehicle. Tracking through the jungle
,
they had to be.

Water dripped from the ridge of Davidson
’
s nose
,
onto his rifle
,
and down the long barrel. The cloud burst had been short but had dropped nearly half an inch of water. Puddles pocked the road through the village as mist clung to the mountainside. The Disciples must have lost their vehicle
,
then taken to the jungle to avoid the downpour.

Each event making their job of extracting Brandt all the harder.

A splash announced Talli
’
s arrival.
“
What are we going to do?
”

Davidson looked to Lopez. The corporal
’
s lips turned down. Which was not their usual direction. As a matter of fact
,
it was weird to see Lopez with a frown on his face.

“
We really need some thermal imaging,
”
Talli stated, nodding to the forest where the only way you knew men were out there was by the sway of the branches.

Lopez snorted.
“
Yeah, let
’
s call Command and say
,
‘
H
ey, I know we went AWOL and all, but what the heck, since we are in Africa
,
how about you give us some tactical support?
’
”