Now he knew without a doubt that other civilizations exist. Not only do they exist but they know we exist and have been visiting us for years. What was it that Devin said? The first pictorial representations of UFO were found in caves in southern France and are believed to be from 30,000 B.C.? Have they been coming here to check up on us? To see how we are progressing as a society? Maybe the 1938
He drifted off to a fitful sleep, seeing the alien creature ‘J’ coming toward him as he lay naked on a table. This time J was in control and was going to probe him. He awoke with a startled reaction when one of the Secret Service men touched his shoulder.
“Sorry sir. We’re here,” he said.
The President shook his head for a second, “Good. Good. Now if we can only get back unnoticed,” the President said looking at this watch. It was only 4:45 a.m. He should be able to get back without detection.
“This looks good,” the commanding officer said, handing the folder back to Miller.
“Thank you. If we have a leak, I think this is where we will find it.”
“I hope you’re right. I have decided to make you Number One on this mission,”
“What about the others?”
“That’s my decision. It was your plan, you laid it out and you should lead the team.”
“Thank you,” Miller replied.
He hadn’t seen this one coming.
“Everything is arranged. You jump off at 0200. Pick the others besides yourself and Number Two and get them ready.”
He started to salute but caught himself. Old habits die hard. He had a lot of preparations to take care of with the jump off point being only a few hours away. When he got back to the barracks he put all of the team numbers in a helmet and drew out the ones that would be going with him. He informed them of the mission and immediately set up a briefing.
“So, if I got this straight, when we get to Aqa Seyyed Sharif, the four of us become the bait. Two will stay with the chopper pilots to make sure they stay honest. Our mission is to infiltrate the compound, even though we know for a fact that no Americans are inside and see if we get our asses shot off.”
“In a nutshell, that is correct. Number two and I will be covering you every step of the way. We will have M249 SAW machine guns to cover you when you enter the compound.”
Miller pointed to the aerial photographs of the site, “We will be here and here. As you can see, we will be able to cover your approach to the outdoor holding pin as well. If it is a trap, and I am ninety-five percent sure it is, they will come at you from here and here,” he said tapping the picture. We will both have unobstructed kill zones so when they pop out we can take them down.
“And we will know that it was someone on either the choppers or the AWACS that tipped them off,” one of the others said.
“That is correct. At this point the chopper pilots only know that they are on instant standby for further orders. We drew ammo under the pretense of a practice mission so even that link is plugged. The only other people that know about this mission are the commander and the AWACS crew. We let them know a few hours ago. We told them that two choppers would be coming in to these coordinates. It gives the informer time to alert the people on the ground so they can set up an ambush for us. That Number Two and I are also going has not been divulged,” Miller said.
“Do you really think someone in our own military would give that kind of information to the enemy?”
“Unfortunately, yes I do, and I think they did exactly that on the last mission. That’s how we lost so many men. I hope I’m wrong and it was just one of those things, but I damn sure intend to find out,” he told them.
“I hope they turn them over to us if it’s true. I would like to get my hands on them for a few minutes,” another said.
A general chorus of agreement came from the men.
“Alright. Any questions? Anyone?” No one asked. They knew what their job was and what was ahead for them.
“Be at the pad at 01:30. Until then, try to get some sleep,” Miller said.
He went back to the commander’s office and reported that the men had been briefed and that they understood the mission.
“You know this is a high risk mission. It would only take one crazy with an RPG to do some serious damage to the entire team. You and Number Two are going to have to be carefully on the lookout for unexpected bogies.
“I understand and so does Number Two. We realize that the safety of those four men is directly in our hands and neither of us wants that on our conscience. We will be ready.”
“All right Number One, good luck and good hunting,” he said as he and Miller shook hands and went back to the barracks.
