47 Echo Read Online Free

funneling through Irkutsk, we really don’t have the strength to defend Area November. They open us up there, they can use it to invade a whole lot more of Russia than they already have. ’Specially since we got renegade Russian forces coming at us from the northwest.”
    “Looks like I picked the wrong time to get convicted of murder.”
    “Didn’t we all, though. Didn’t we all.”
    Sayed held up his hand, indicating the line of soldiers behind him should stop. They had reached the bottom of a small hill covered in tall grass—Sayed consulted a screen on his uniform sleeve and quietly consulted with Neal. Nick was close enough to hear most of what they were saying.
    “GPS says the first marker’s just over the hill,” Sayed said.
    “That jives with my info.”
    “I’m picking up a weak signal. Couple of the comms are still active, but enough have been knocked out of their network to cut their effective range to a couple of miles.”
    Neal said something Nick couldn’t make out. Sayed motioned for the unit to follow him up the hill, then to drop down when they neared the top. Sayed, Neal, Christopher, Nick and two of Sayed’s men all formed a line in the front. Sayed pulled out a pair of binoculars, and Neal followed suit.
    “See ‘em, Jimbo?” Sayed asked after a moment.
    “That’s affirmative.”
    Christopher pulled out his own pair of compact binoculars and looked through them. He passed them to Neal—two short, rough Asian men in dark blue pants, white shirts, and heavy blue jackets were standing by the lake shore. One of them had a small device in his hands, and was turning it over, inspecting it.
    “Looks like we found the source of the problem,” Sayed growled. “Fucking Chinks.”
    “They’re not Chinese,” Nick said without thinking, zooming in with his binoculars.
    “I don’t recall asking you a goddamned thing, convict,” Sayed spat out.
    “Regardless, sir, they’re not Chinese. They’re Mongolian.”
    “How do you know that?” Neal asked.
    Because I’m not a fucking idiot, Nick wanted to say. “The script on their jackets. It’s Mongolian. The symbols are Mongolian Police.”
    “Neal, shut his hole. Two-ten, 1412, I want you to take up positions and mow these Chink bastards down.”
    Nick looked over at Neal—he could see that his Lieutenant didn’t agree with Sayed one bit.
    Fuck. What’s the worst they can do to me? Nick thought, standing on his haunches and inching closer to Sayed.
    “Captain Sayed, sir,” Nick started.
    “I thought I told you to shut the fuck—”
    Sayed didn’t have a chance to finish his sentence. Nick cold-cocked the officer in the jaw with his right fist, immediately dropping him. Sayed twitched once on the ground, bleeding slightly from the mouth, but Nick knew he hadn’t killed the man. He could see his chest rising and falling evenly.
    “Two-ten, 1412, cancel your previous order,” Neal said quickly. “Three-eleven, take 1153 into custody for striking an officer.”
    Christopher nodded and took a zip-tie from his cargo pocket. He loosely tied Nick’s hands behind his back. Neal caught Nick’s eye and winked.
    “All right, gentlemen. Here’s how we’re going to play this…”
     
    Nick could only watch as Christopher, Michael and two of the 18 soldiers approached the two Mongolian policemen. The four convicts walked up slowly, hands empty and open at their sides so as not to spook the two cops. Nick would have expected a similar reaction from the two police, but instead, the cops jumped up and down excitedly and waved their arms. One of them ran up and hugged Christopher.
    “Um…yeah, sir. I think we’re dealing with non-hostiles,” Christopher’s voice crackled over Neal’s radio.
    “All right, 311. Bring them back here. We’re taking them back to Area November with us.”
    “Copy that.”
    As Christopher’s small detachment escorted the two Mongolian cops over to rejoin the rest of the unit, Nick noticed that both