The leader of the SEALs, Lieutenant Devon Robbins, spoke into his thin
microphone. "Can you see them? We could use an IR scope." The SEALs had
split into two teams, as was their practice, and he was leading the
first.
"Hard to make out much in this fog," came back his point man,
Lieutenant Philip Pease, who was leading the second
team. Pease was exactly twenty meters away, all but invisible because
of his dark commando gear. He was studying the men up the hill with a
pair of 8x30mm Steiner stereo-optic binoculars. Though they were
designed for low light, he still could not see clearly. "But they're
dressed in black, and they look like they're armed."
"What else can you ID?"
"They're not together, exactly. It's almost as though they're deploying
for something."
"What the hell are they doing outside in the first place? Does it mean
the fuckers haven't gotten around to taking over the launch facility
yet? Maybe they're getting set up for their next move."
"Can't confirm anything, SEAL One. Just too much damned fog. . . .
Wait, yeah, they've got assault rifles of some kind. Looks like some
big-time shit. That's a definite confirm."
"Do they look like they're setting up?"
"All I can tell for sure is they're moving, spreading out. Something's
about to go down. Got to be baddies. Who else could they be?"
"All right, SEAL Two, our mission is to create a diversion, shake them
up, and let Nichols's chopper teams handle the heavy lifting. Those
Apaches can make a man give his heart to Jesus."
"You've got a rog on that, SEAL One. But if we're here to make an
impression, I say let's give them a big Navy welcome. Time for a close
encounter."
"We came to play. Get--"
A flare blossomed from somewhere up in the vicinity of the vehicles,
illuminating the fog into a huge white cloud, vast and mysterious.
"What in hell!" yelled Pease's voice on the radio. "That was farther
up. Maybe it's a two-point assault."
"Looked like it was over to the left. Can you tell what happened?"
"Must have been a flash-bang. These assholes brought their own
boombox."
"Okay, SEAL Two, we've got a mission. First things first.
For now we just neutralize those bastards in black. Looks like half our
hostiles are outside and in the clear. On the count of three."
The SEALS all clicked off the safeties on their MP5s and took aim,
wishing they could see something more than dark, vague outlines in the
fog.