Karl's Last Flight, part 14

Karl's Last Flight, part 14
©2006, Basil Sands

"Karl, get the woman out."  Kharzai said in a harsh tone of voice.

Karl opened the side door and pulled Esther across the seat.  He helped her to the ground then took her arm as if she were a prisoner in custody and led her to where Kharzai was waiting at a door to the building.  A single naked light bulb hung from a lamp pole protruding above the door.

A hundred meters away one of the two tanker trucks was packing up his hose, having completed his fueling task while the second truck was working on the farthest of the MiG 31's.

Kharzai led them into the building.  The door opened into a long white hallway that extended about 30 meters straight across.  It looked like a barracks or office building.

The Persian led them into a room, three doors down on the right of the hallway.  They went in to find a large space dimly illuminated by two bare bulbs suspended by wires hanging drearily out of holes in the ceiling.  There was a mattress in the center of the floor and a small pile of filthy clothes piled against the far wall.

As they entered the room, Karl heard footsteps coming down the hall.  Kharzai motioned to him to be quite.

The door opened and in walked eight men, dressed in black jumpsuits with white headbands covered in Arabic script tied around their foreheads.

The one at the front, smiled widely and said, "Ahhhhh! My brother you have kept your word!  A special dessert for us before we leave for our blessed martyrdom!"

"More than my word, I got you the prize of the province." Kharzai grabbed the frightened woman from Karl and pushed her into the midst of the pilots. "Esther the beautiful.  She is a Christian infidel, so don't worry about sin.  You can do what ever you want to her, and Allah will smile."

Esther shrieked in terror, "No!  You will pay for this!" she spit at him as the pilots grabbed at her.

Karl started to move forward but Kharzai pointed his weapon at him.  It was the first time Karl ever saw a serious look in the Persians eyes, he was not joking around this time.

"Sit back and watch my friend, watch what happens to the infidel."
Karl raised his hands as Kharzai motioned with the weapon to back up against the wall.

The chief pilot slapped Esther hard on the cheek, knocking her to the floor, her hands still bound behind her back.  Two of the other pilots dragged her by her hair across the floor to the mattress.  A man held down each of her legs as the chief pilot groped at her body, the other men greedily looked on, their backs to Karl and Kharzai.  They surrounded Esther like a pack of hyena's, drooling and laughing before a kill. 

Kharzai turned towards Karl, raised his weapon to chest height, looked him straight in the eyes, and winked.

The playful glimmer of mischief returned to the Persians face as he whispered to him in, "Do you count eight of them?"

Karl nodded.

"You go left, I go right.  We must get them all in here, as quietly as possible."  Kharzai reached into his waistband and handed Karl a knife.  "Start at the back and work fast up the line."

"NOW!"

The two men rushed headlong into the pack of distracted pilots, slicing the throats of closest two almost simultaneously.  Before those men fell to the ground two more felt steel blades piercing their flesh, grabbing at their bursting intestines as they crumbled to the floor.  Those holding Esther's legs looked up up in time to see the blades descent on them, leaving them writhing in pain on the floor,  gasping air through throats split wide open.

The chief and one other rose from the girl, managing to get on their feet before Kharzai and Karl could take them out.  The pilot lunged forward at Karl, a fierce look on his face.  He rammed Karl in the chest, taking the wind out of him, and knocking the knife across the room.  The pilot fighting like a maniac got his fingers around Karl's throat.  Karl tried to break his grip, only to find it incredibly strong. 

The chief thrust a sweeping kick out against Kharzai's ankle, knocking his feet out from under him.  He ran for the door in an attempt to sound an alarm.  Kharzai let fly his knife.  It soared across the room, burying itself between the shoulder blades of the chief pilot as his hand reached the door handle.

The chief let out a cry of pain, that caused the other pilot to turn his attention from Karl for an instant.  It was all Karl needed.  He smashed his hands up between his assailants arms, clasped his fingers together and came down with a crushing hammer blow against the bridge of the man's nose. 

The pilot shrieked as Karl's blow flattened his nose, spattering blood in every direction.  He clapped his hands over his face and rolled off to one side.  Karl rose to his knees, grabbed his knife from the floor and thrust it into the chest of the last pilot, pressing with all his weight until the man's body went limp beneath him.

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