“Okay men, we have a mission,” Eyes said, his eyes grave, his tone serious. He looked each of the men in the eyes, making contact and holding it before looking down at his paper. No one said a word as they waited to hear what they’d be doing. “This mission will involve every . . . single . . . one . . . of . . . us. And I can’t state this more importantly — you must be ghosts. You cannot, in any shape or form, give yourselves away.”
Each of the four men at the table nodded once to acknowledge they were aware of the risks and more than willing to put their lives on the line.
“I need to tell you right now there’s a good possibility we’re going to lose one of our own tonight.”
Those words sobered the men and got a reaction from them, as he’d known they would, but the men still nodded. Though they’d now only been working together for a couple of months, it didn’t matter. They were so close that to lose any one of them would change the dynamics of their team. It would be like losing a sibling. When they did these types of missions, they bonded in a unique way.
“Good. I’m glad you understand,” Eyes said. He looked at Hendrick, aka Green. “Green, I’m going to need you at this location.” He turned on the huge screen in front of them and pointed to a sixty-foot wall with a beach below. “I need your aim to be one hundred percent accurate. You cannot, under any circumstance, miss your shots.”
“How many targets?” Green asked, confidence in his eyes. He wouldn’t miss even in a storm with debris falling all around him.
“Twenty,” Eyes said.
Green didn’t even blink. “I won’t let the team down,” he assured them.
“I have no doubt about that,” Eyes said. Then he turned to Steve, aka Brackish. “Brackish, this mission calls for you to be on site with your magic. There will be various machines, and you can’t miss a single beat. Is that clear?”
“Yes,” Brackish said. “What will I be working with?” Excitement brewed in Brackish’s eyes. It wasn’t often he found something to challenge him, but he always hoped for it.
“I’ll brief each of you at the end of the assignments,” Eyes said. Brackish was naturally impatient, but he nodded and waited for Eyes to go on.
Eyes turned to Tyrell, aka Smoke. “Smoke, we need your speed and stealth. You’ll go directly into harm’s way, closing in on the civilian, and you must not be seen. You’ll drop what needs to be dropped and then disappear like the ghost you are.”
“Yes, Sir,” Smoke said with a smile. His call sign was Smoke for a reason. He could be in and out of a room of a hundred civilians without anyone knowing he was there.
Jon, aka Eyes, continued. “I’ll be coordinating the mission, going between stations to make sure everything runs smoothly. I’ll also do some drops. It’s imperative we don’t screw this up. It’s a life or death matter.”
“What will Sleep be doing?” Smoke asked.
Carl, aka Sleep, sat back in his chair as Eyes answered. “He’ll be with the civilian,” Eyes said.
There was a look of worry among the men as they fought the urge to argue the mission. With Green being responsible for taking out twenty targets, and Smoke being a ghost in the room, they were all worried about Sleep. He’d be at ground zero, and they knew that put him in the worst position if anything went wrong.
“I’m faster, maybe I should be at ground zero,” Smoke said. “Sleep can take my mission.”
“I’m sorry, Smoke, but this is a position only I can do,” Sleep said. “But knowing you’re my brother, knowing you’re willing to sacrifice for me means more than words can express.”
“What in the hell are we doing?” Green asked. He was trying to be patient, but they each had their assignment. Now it was time to learn the nitty gritty of what was about to happen. They normally had more time to prepare than one afternoon.
“The mission begins at 2100 hours tonight. There’s a lot of work to do to prepare,” Eyes said, not answering the question. “This is the location of Sleep and our civilian,” he continued as he pointed to a cove on the beach.
“Is this a drug deal?” Green asked. “This place only appears to have two exits. Sleep could easily get surrounded.”