Raven Strike Read Online Free Page B

yeah.”
    “How’d they get that?”
    “Don’t know. They get a lot of stuff out here.”
    “Sold by a friendly government,” said Nuri. “Allegedly friendly.”
    Danny shook his head. “So they shot it down.”
    “No, that’s the damn shame of it. Raven was flying with a Predator on overwatch. The two aircraft collided.”
    “You know where it went down?” asked Danny.
    “Roughly. That’s where Melissa went. We have transponders, but the accident knocked one of them out, and separated the other two. So it’s in one of two spots. At first there was no signal because of a sandstorm.”
    “A sandstorm?” asked Danny.
    “Happens all the time here,” said Nuri.
    “The particles screw up the low-power transmissions,” explained Jordan. “It’s a trade-off—if you have a transmission that’s too strong, anyone can find you. At any rate, we can see them now. It’s over the border about fifty miles.”
    Nuri whistled. “That’s not the best place for a woman.”
    “It’s not that bad,” said Jordan. “She’s been out there before.”
    “How is one person going to bring back an aircraft?” asked Danny.
    “She said she just wants to locate it.” Jordan shrugged. “When they told us you were coming, she said she’d get there and you could follow.”
    “Is she nuts?” asked Danny.
    “Well yeah, actually, she is,” said Jordan.
    “W e’re getting about a tenth of the story here,” Nuri told Danny when they went outside. “No-contact mission. You know what that means?”
    “No,” said Danny.
    “That means they don’t have to ask permission to kill this guy,” said Nuri.
    “Okay.”
    “They’re out here testing a new UAV on a high-value target? CIA officer goes out by herself to locate it? Granted it’s not as bad as it was a year ago, but it’s still not Disney World. There’s a lot more to the story, Danny. A hell of a lot more.”
    Nuri folded his arms. He didn’t know exactly what else was going on here, but it smelled bad. Predators had never been used against the rebels here, not even the Sudan Brotherhood, because they’d never taken action against the U.S. In fact, except for their religious beliefs, one could have argued that they were much friendlier toward America philosophically than their government was.
    As for Li Han, targeting him made a hell of a lot of sense. But bugging out didn’t. The bureaucratic bs needed to authorize a strike was so immense that an operation like this would continue for years.
    Unless they hadn’t gone through with the bureaucratic bs.
    Which meant the operation wasn’t just black; it was unauthorized; aka illegal.
    Nuri felt his lower lip starting to shudder. The cool air was getting to him.
    “How long before we can hook into the Voice?” asked Nuri, using one of his pet names for the MY-PID system.
    “Tigershark won’t be on station for a few hours,” said Danny, checking his watch. “I’ll find out—I have to tell Bree we’re here. Hang around, all right?”
    “I’m not going anywhere.”
    Danny took out his encrypted satellite phone—it used standard military satellites, not the data-heavy Whiplash network—and called in as they walked toward the airstrip, as much to keep warm as to avoid being overheard. Nuri put his hands in his pockets, rocking back and forth as he listened to Danny’s side of the conversation.
    “Hey Bree, this is Danny. We’re here. What’s the ETA on Tigershark? . . . Uh-huh.”
    Nuri felt a twinge of jealousy at how close the colonel and Breanna Stockard were. There was a level of trust there that he’d never had with any of his supervisors, and certainly not with Jonathon Reid. It wasn’t that he thought Reid or any of the men he’d worked for were less than dedicated, or would leave him purposely in the lurch. It was more a question of how far beyond their duty they would go. He’d already seen Stockard risk her career and her life for Danny.
    For them . For the entire team. But it was