Karl's Last Flight, Part 15

Karl's Last Flight,  Part 15
©2006, Basil Sands

Karl rose from the dead man and rushed over to Esther who lay weeping on the mattress, her arms still bound behind her back.

He cut the zip-tie off her wrists and helped her up.  She leaned hard into his chest, her hands covering her face as she shook tremulously in his strong embrace. 

"It's alright, it's alright." His deep voice reassured her as gently as he could.

Kharzai came near them. "Look I hate to break this up but we really need to get going, or we'll all be dead in a few minutes."

She pulled back from Karl.  They rose to their feet and turned toward Kharzai.  Esther moved closer to him, then with a flash of her hand slapped him hard across the face.

"If you ever use me like that again, I will kill you." She said with fire in her eyes.

"Ok." He said,  "I deserved that. Look, I'm really sorry, I couldn't think of any other way to get us in and get these guys killed.  If there had been another way I would have done it."

Karl stepped up, "These guys knew you.  They knew your name and that you were bringing a woman to them. What's up with that?"

"Gilles and I had been working undercover inside VEVAK for a while.  Gilles actually turned though.  He was convinced that I had turned too, but I had decided to work on feeding him false information.  When all this full on war stuff started in earnest, things kinda went crazy.  I met these kamikazes last week and made them some promises to ensure their trust with the hope of stopping their mission before following through.  Tonight's event offered an opportunity to tie it all up and, except for the fact of the psychological trauma I forced on young Miss Esther, it seems to have been pretty dadgum successful, don't you think?"

He motioned towards the dead bodies laying in pools of blood all around the room.

Karl suddenly felt very dirty.  His stomach churned at the sight of all these young men whom he, only moments earlier, had viciously cut to pieces. 

He knew had not done it out of patriotism.  Nor had he done it to stop them from their suicidal mission.  He had taken the lives of these men only for the sake of saving Esther. 

He looked at her and longed to take her away from this terrible place. She had been tormented with enough pain for many lifetimes.  She deserved a happy life.  God willing he would make sure she could have one.
"Alright, enough chit-chat," Kharzai said, getting back to business, "We need to get out there on the runway and help Liam and Manoosh blow up those airplanes."

They all moved to the door.  Seeing no one they headed out into the hallway, turning left and moving swiftly back to the door at led outside.  Kharzai opened the door cautiously, making sure no alarm had been raised.  He motioned for them to go out after him.

The wind was seriously beginning to pick up.  Gusting hard, it nearly tore the door from Karl's grip as he exited the building.

In the distance Karl could see the planes lined up along the side of the runway.  The last fuel truck was now disconnecting his hose from the farthest MiG 31.  A lone guard was standing with the driver chatting. 

There was movement in the long shadows behind one of the planes. Karl could make out Liam's massive shoulders gliding phantom-like from one plane to the next.  Several planes ahead of him another shadow emerged from behind one of the other 27's.  It was Manoosh.  The guard and driver seemed engrossed in their conversation not noticing the two saboteurs slinking through the shadows, silently planting explosives inside the engine housings of each of the fighters.

The three of them got in the van.  Kharzai started it and was about to leave when the door of the barracks burst open.

"Alarm! Alarm!" shouted a voice.

A soldier turned and seeing the van raised his weapon towards it.  He fired a burst from his Kalashnikov.  Karl ducked just as the side window exploded inward, spraying glass everywhere.

He sat up and fired a return burst of his MP5, throwing the soldier into the wall where he slid to the ground.

This raised the alarms of the whole base. Lights shone from towers, soldiers came running from every direction.

Kharzai slammed the van into gear and drove towards the run way.

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