Free Fenix by Vivek Ahuja Page A

they did to Mumbai. Some guys are even talking of unrestricted ops across the Rubicon!”
                  Ansari kept his peace as he absorbed the scent, looks and feel of this place. He missed being in the field.
                  “But what do you think is about to happen?” Ansari asked again.
                  “Nothing.” Gephel responded dryly. “Same shit, different day. We mobilize, they mobilize. The winter doesn’t help and ensures that mountain passes remain closed. The brass reports the same to the political chiefs in Delhi and the whole thing is shelved while diplomacy get a new life. And the folks in Islamabad have a good laugh all through and through.”
                  Gephel pulled the vehicle over to the mess of a Ladakh Scouts unit that was moving into the region. It was as anonymous a place as could be found. Gephel then turned to Ansari: “and until you called up to tell me you were coming, I would have remained convinced that I was correct in my deductions.”
                  “But not anymore?” Ansari smiled.
                  “Not anymore! So what do you have for me?”
                  “Something to make your hair stand on its end!” Ansari said with a crooked smile as both men walked into the deserted mess room and headed outside into the rocky garden. The garden was at the base of the snow-covered mountains that bracketed the airfield. Ansari took a half hour to explain his plans to Gephel. And Gephel nodded silently as he absorbed the whole intent of the plans…
                  “…Naturally, we cannot be go on this ourselves.” Ansari concluded. Gephel raised an eyebrow: “And why not?”
                  Ansari shook his head: “No chance. Humping over these mountains here is a young man’s game. That leaves us old geese out. I want your expertise from the Pathfinder missions but you are to go nowhere near the field!”
                  “Fine.” Gephel relented and then looked at the majestic Himalayas around them. “Can you get anybody from SOCOM for this operation?”
                  “Give me a name and I will have him deputed. The powers-that-lord-over-us have given me broad authority to acquire whoever we need…within limits of course!” Ansari focused on Gephel. “ Why? Who did you have in mind?”
                  “There is this young major I met over at Vairengte who is teaching special-forces officers on high-altitude special-warfare tactics with his Bhutanese wartime experiences. You will know him. The guy led his team into combat against the Chinese Highland Division forces north of Thimpu during the initial phases of the Bhutanese theater. His small force worked with Warlord and his commanders to hold the reds off until the Paras could secure Thimpu.”
                  “Oh, I think I know this guy,” Ansari tried to recollect his memorized information on SOCOM personnel. “Didn’t his team get chewed up over there? Himself included?”
                  “Do you blame him?” Gephel asked. “A nuclear explosion will do that to a man, you know. He got chopped up and barely walked out of Bhutan with a severe leg wound. Only three others from his team survived. But he’s recovered now. I met the boy before I headed over here. He’s perfect for what we need. Grab him before some other task-force does!”
                  Ansari nodded with a smile, more so at the ease with which Gephel had accepted his task without actually saying it. And also because he realized that has special-warfare team had already begun to grow.
    The plan was not theoretical anymore.
     
     
    P athanya thanked the young air-force officer who had dropped him off on the tarmac near the parked aircraft. He grabbed his rucksack from the back of the Gypsy and returned the salute of the driver. The latter accelerated