make it happen.”
A blocked call came through Jack’s phone, and he answered quickly.
“Jack, this is Director Camden, did you just get one of the doors open and order all units to assemble on your command?”
Jack hesitated for a moment, “Yes, sir.”
“Jack, the President gave you specific instructions. By entering the tunnel, you could jeopardize the entire mission.”
“Sir, I think Nikolai, al-Haddad, and the bomb are in these tunnels. I have the best Special Forces operatives in the world with me now. If we take these tunnels immediately, we can find al-Haddad AND disarm the bomb.”
“You might be right Jack, but those are not your orders.”
“Sir, I cannot risk the lives of 50,000 people when this option is available to me. I don’t care what you guys have decided from your ivory tower, this is the best solution for the innocent people here at the Park.”
“Not if it accelerates the detonation of the bomb and it allows Khalid to escape. Khalid could be in possession of a nuke on American soil—do you understand the implications of this?”
“Yes, sir, but the correct call is to raid this tunnel with everything we’ve got. If I’m right, we’ll solve all of our problems in one sweep. We don’t have any other choice, this is the best way to stop this threat.”
The Director paused to think, “Let me call the President.”
“How long will that take?”
“I’m not sure, but you need to hold your position until I get back to you.”
“Yes, sir.” Jack called out over the secure radio to the CIA unit, Team Six, and the other SEALs on site. “All units be ready to storm the tunnel on my call.”
Kendall arrived in his full assault kit with Max and they handed Jack his gear.
“I’m just waiting for word from the Director. Show the teams the schematics of the tunnels when they get here.”
Kendall nodded at Jack with a lingering look. Jack had finally gone off the deep end, and he was going to directly disobey the orders of the President of the United States.
Team Six arrived, and they started their weapons checks. The CIA unit was behind them, and more SEALs followed. The deadliest fighters in American history were all in one place, at one time, ready to enter the tunnel. These were masters of close quarters combat, each person had been through hundreds of similar missions, they knew how to communicate without saying a word. They were the most accomplished operatives in the history of Special Forces.
“What’s taking them so long?” Jack uttered under his breath as he checked his sights and readied his weapons. Max glanced at Kendall who looked worried.
“Gentlemen,” Jack addressed the elite group, “we could be facing over 100 hostiles in these tunnels. These tunnels are unknown to us so we could be walking into a maze. Our target is al-Haddad, and the bomb.”
The men nodded, ready for action. This is what they lived for. Each man wanted to be the one to put the bullet in al-Haddad’s head. This was biggest mission of their careers and failure was not an option.
Suddenly, their headsets went fuzzy, and no one could hear anything through their closed circuit devices.
“Are you guys hearing this?”
“Yes, sir,” the Team Six leader responded, “our closed circuit communications appear to be failing.”
Jack pulled his earpiece out and checked the transmitter on his belt.
He looked at Kendall, then back at the team who was eagerly awaiting his command.
“Kendall, we need to go, we are out of time. I know you don’t agree with this, but this our best shot right now, and we need to take it.”
Kendall paused for a second and looked Jack in the eyes, “I’m with you Jack, let’s do it.”
Jack addressed the group, “GENTLEMEN, we are a go, follow my lead, and execute on my orders.”
The mechanical clicks of high-powered assault rifles filled the cavernous underground attraction as they prepared for battle. The men lowered their night
Legs McNeil, Jennifer Osborne, Peter Pavia