drink mix, one multivitamin, two servings of instant coffee, a tea bag, two pouches of dried muesli with dehydrated milk, a nut-and-fruit bar, and a packet of applesauce.
In addition, there were three Army-green plastic spoons, six antiseptic wet naps—half were formulated for cleaning utensils and the other half for cleansing human skin—three paper napkins, paper sleeves of pepper and salt, and six rather large packets of sugar with twenty grams in each.
An ingenious piece of lightweight machined metal, no bigger and not much thicker than a playing card, was included and could be bent into a tiny camp stove that stood on three legs. Along with it came three hexamine fire tablets, five stormproof matches, and a striker.
Assembling the stove and placing a hexamine tab in the center, Harvath ignored the stormproof matches and used a lighter he’d taken off one of the dead soldiers to ignite it. He used his glove to draw his canteen cup back from next to the fire and placed it atop the camp stove in hopes of bringing the water to a quicker boil.
Turning his attention to the tin filled with processed cheese, he grabbed the tab and carefully pulled back the lid. He then raised it to his nose and inhaled. It smelled delicious. Picking up a spoon, he dug in. It was one of the best things he had ever tasted.
Licking the spoon clean, he opened a sleeve of crackers and tackled the chocolate-hazelnut spread next. He was ravenous. Everything tasted so good.
Though he assumed the water from the coffee station was potable, he didn’t want to take any chances. He let the water in his cup come to a good, rolling boil for several minutes before removing it from the flame, adding the tea bag, and setting it aside to cool.
There were six purification tablets, each individually wrapped in foil, and each good for purifying a liter apiece. Popping one out, he untied the larger of his two water-filled condoms and dropped it in. He didn’t expect to tap that water source until he left the plane. By then, any potential contaminants would be neutralized.
Two thermostabilized entrees, one pork and one beef, as well as flameless ration heaters, were also included. The heaters were something the U.S. military used too, but they had come a long way from the water-activated systems Harvath used to know. Because they gave off highly flammable hydrogen gas, the old versions had been forbidden on planes and in submarines.
Like their predecessors, the new, air-activated flameless ration heaters allowed precooked food to be warmed up, in its pouch, via heat from a chemical reaction—the idea being that if a campfire wasn’t advisable or available, soldiers could still enjoy a hot meal. There was, though, something else the heaters could be used for.
Their chemical reaction was identical to that of disposable hand and foot warmers. That was because they all used the same main ingredient—iron powder.
When exposed to air, and assisted by sodium chloride, activated charcoal, and vermiculite, iron powder produces iron oxide—rust—and, most important, heat. How much heat depended upon how much iron powder was used. Hand and foot warmers used less and could reach 163 degrees. MRE heaters used more and could reach 200 degrees.
The point here was that Harvath had stumbled onto two, albeit temporary, portable forms of instant heat. There were likely two more in the other IRP. In the end, even one of them might end up being the difference between life and death once he struck off from the wreckage. They weighed next to nothing, and he knew he would never regret having them along.
In addition to the entrees, there were two pâté appetizers, both pork, apparently. One appeared to have been made with pig brains, the other with pig’s liver. Harvath opted for the liver. Pulling open the pouch, he went after the salty protein with his spoon.
He had to force himself to go slowly. His stomach would have shrunk over the past three days, and eating too much too quickly could make him throw up.
By the time he was done with the pâté, his tea had cooled enough to drink. He took that slowly as well. As soon as he began drinking, his mind began flashing back to what had happened on the private jet.
CHAPTER 10
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Whatever drug his Russian abductors had been using to knock him out, they had an equally powerful antidote to return him to consciousness.
It produced an instant migraine and was like having