CHAPTER 45
Felix Orlov woke from a light nap, the phone on his chest buzzing. He gripped the phone and sat up on the shiny concrete hangar floor, taking a few moments to regain his bearings. When the phone kept buzzing, his stomach sank. Felix assumed he’d just received a text message with a code to access a mission update on the dark web site. He stared at the unfamiliar number for another second, surprised they had called him directly. Pichugin’s proxy never arranged direct call protocol.
“Hello?” he said, accepting the call.
“Give the order to start the helicopters. I’ll wait.”
The voice was modulated to disguise the speaker. Felix yelled at Oleg, who stood in the open pedestrian doorway adjacent to the closed hangar bay door. “Get the helicopters ready for takeoff! Everyone else up and checking their gear.”
Oleg bolted out of the hangar, while the rest of the team shook off their naps and got to their feet.
“The order has been given,” said Felix.
“The pilots will fly you to the two athletic fields north of SITE ZERO. One helicopter in each field. You’ll lead the team to the coordinates I will text to your phone the moment I hang up. The coordinates correspond with a hostile team’s boat infiltration point. Friendly forces at SITE ZERO will engage the hostile team and force them to retreat. Our assumption is that they will immediately return to the boats at their original infiltration point, where you will ambush the hostile team.”
The high-pitched whine of the helicopters’ engines resonated inside the hangar. The blades would reach their full rotor speed in just under a minute.
“We’ll pay everyone on your team fifty thousand US dollars per prisoner taken, but there is no penalty for killing the entire team. The hostile force is comprised of nine mercenaries. Nongovernment affiliated. Seven of them to be considered top-tier special operators. The other two have a high level of military firearms proficiency. Do not take any catastrophic risks with your team to capture any of them. You’re up against a highly skilled crew. Handle them as your equals.”
“Understood. What if they don’t retreat from SITE ZERO?” asked Felix.
“I’ll be in direct contact with the group at the site. If they can’t force a retreat, I’ll call you directly and redirect your team.”
Oleg reappeared in the doorway and gave him a thumbs-up before assembling the team around the door.
“The helicopters are ready,” said Felix.
“Don’t let me hold you up.” The call disconnected.
He jogged over to the team and repeated their orders, leaving out the part about prisoner bounties. Handle them as equals told Felix everything he needed to know about the hostile force. He had to kill all of them quickly and efficiently, or they would extract a heavy price from his team. Fifty thousand dollars was tempting, but not that tempting—to him. He couldn’t speak for the rest of the team’s financial situations. His life was worth far more than a measly fifty grand, and he wasn’t about to put it in the hands of someone who needed a quick money fix to pay off a gambling debt.
Satisfied that everyone understood the parameters of the mission, he turned them loose. They split up into two groups and boarded their assigned helicopters. Felix followed Oksana and Lashev, their sniper, to the leftmost Bell 429 helicopter, where they climbed inside, slid the wide side door into place, and immediately went to work donning their equipment.
The helicopter lifted off a moment later, a feeling of heaviness overtaking him until the helicopter’s flight leveled off, headed toward SITE ZERO. The pilot told him it would take no more than four minutes to reach the landing zone, which put them all under a bit of a time crunch to slip into their full combat kit. They worked methodically, starting with their plate carrier vests and moving on to their drop holsters. Rifles attached to one-point carry slings next, followed by helmets and night vision.
“One minute!” yelled the pilot.
He was glad Pichugin had arranged for two helicopters. This particular Bell model was rated for seven passengers, enough to ferry the team to the site, but the cabin felt cramped enough with the three of them unloading and swinging gear around. He couldn’t imagine trying to pull this off with the seven operatives in the same space. Not in four minutes. He patted himself down again to make sure he hadn’t missed something. All good.
With his personal gear squared away, he went to work on the last duffel bag with Oksana. Together, they wrestled the M249 LMG （light machine gun） out of the bag and onto the rear passenger bench seat. He retrieved one of the seventy-five-round-drum magazines from the bag and inserted it into the magazine well. All a gunner had to do at this point was release the safety and pull the charging handle back. Four additional drums sat in each bag.