Page 125 of The 9th Man

Luke reversed the rifle and smacked the butt against the back of the man’s head. The body went limp. He quickly donned the man’s headset. Through the earpiece a voice was saying,

“Do you copy? Do you copy?”

Jack Talley.

Tempting as it was to engage in a bit of psych-ops banter, he resisted the impulse. Static seemed his best weapon. One of Talley’s team had just disappeared, cause and disposition unknown. On the battlefield such occurrences gave soldiers serious pause. He was hoping for the same here.

“Anyone have eyes on Bremer?”

A chorus of negatives came in reply.

A long, static-filled pause came before Talley’s voice returned. “All units, switch to backup channel. This one is compromised.”

Luke removed the headset and stuffed both it and the radio into his pack.

He took a quick inventory.

Another rifle, two frag grenades, and two flashbang grenades.

Excellent.

He then bound the man’s hands and feet with zip ties retrieved from his captive’s vest. These guys came prepared. He had a tentative plan for his prisoner, but only time would tell whether it was feasible. He then returned to Jillian’s position and handed over the extra rifle and three grenades, keeping one of the flashbangs for himself.

“How long until Talley makes his move?” she asked.

“A few minutes at most.”

“How many men are we talking about?”

“Impossible to say. But we do control the high ground.”

“I appreciate your optimism, but aren’t you forgetting Mr. Murphy? We’re due a visit.”

Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. Gospel among soldiers.

But not to him.

In battle he’d seen circumstances turn on a dime, for better and for worse, but he’d yet to see everything go wrong of its own volition. That usually involved some element of mistake or carelessness.

“I prefer my own version,” he said. “Luke’s Law.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“Be prepared.”

“Doesn’t quite have the same pithiness, but I get your point.”

“You all set here?” he asked.

She nodded and offered what he decided was an indulgent, affectionate smile.

“Don’t get yourself killed,” he added.

“Same for you.”

63

LUKE LEFT JILLIAN HUNKERED DOWN AND HEADED OUT. ALONGthe way he hid the backpack with the laptop and other information, adding the two flash drives from his pocket, leaving only weapons and ammunition in his possession. He then proceeded carefully to the headframe, circling the shaft and dropping to his belly before the hole in the wall. Through the blowing snow he saw more men, each armed with an assault rifle, trudging toward the equipment hut.