Transfer of Power

By the time Reavers got to the guard booth, his silenced MP-10 was up and ready. As he looked inside, he saw the semi decapitated body of a terrorist lying on the floor. Reporting his findings, he said, "Tango one is out of commission." Reavers looked up for a second to see how the others were doing and then began to check the guard booth for booby traps.

Clark and Rostein came in much the same as Reavers.

There was a pattern that was developing, though, and as Reavers finished circling the guard booth, he grew alarmed.

Each man overshot the previous man's landing area by a good twenty feet.

Reavers looked up and saw his CO struggling to get down as the wind picked up. With no time to waste, Reavers began ru

As he did so, the rain started to fall.

Commander Harris was allowing himself to drop at a dangerous rate in an effort to get down before he overshot the landing area. With less than fifteen feet to go, he pulled on his risers as hard as he could. The chute fluffed with air, and just as the commander's feet hit the roof, a forty-mile-an-hour gust grabbed the parachute and yanked Harris toward the edge.

RAPP KNELT OUTSIDE the door to Horsepower, intently watching his monitor. Rielly knelt next to him, afraid to speak.

They had been sitting in silence for several minutes waiting when Rapp noticed her look of fear. A little bit of fear was a good thing, but too much could lead to freezing in the heat of battle, and they couldn't afford that right now.

Rapp pushed the lip mike of his headset up and leaned close to Rielly.

Whispering in her ear, he said, "Don't worry, A

Everything is going to be fine." Rapp moved away and smiled. Rielly looked at him with eyes filled with dread. She leaned in close and whispered in his ear, "I don't want you to die. "Then she hugged him and kissed him on the cheek.

Rapps heart fluttered, and he felt a feeling in his stomach that he hadn't felt in a long time. With a huge grin on his face, he pulled her close, touching his forehead to hers.

"Don't worry about me. I've been in worse situations than this. Much worse." He felt like kissing her, but held back.

"Besides, you owe me di

This finally got a smile from her, and after a couple of seconds, she added, "All right. Just don't do anything stupid before I get a chance to pay you back."

Before Rapp could reply, he heard Commander Harris and Charlie Wicker talking on the headset. Rapp pulled his mike back down and pointed to the doorknob.

Rielly nervously put one hand on the knob and the other on the key. Rapp brought his silenced MP-10 up with both hands and clutched the extended stock firmly between his cheek and shoulder. With his eyes on the monitor, he kept the gun level and ready to fire. He listened to the news as the shot was taken and then the words that the first SEAL was down.

Rapp looked for the slightest sign that the terrorist was onto something. The seconds passed by, and there was nothing. It appeared they had eliminated the Tango on the roof without alerting the others.

Then came the news that the second and third SEALS were down. Rapp started to ease up just a bit.

Amazingly, everything was going off as pla

HARRIS WAS HELPLESS as the wind filled his chute and yanked him toward the edge. Passing by one of the chimney stacks, he reached out with his left hand. This slowed him for only a second as the force of the gale peeled him away from his temporary brick mooring. Several feet off the ground, he was again airborne and headed for the edge.

"Whiskey Four is in trouble," a

Reavers gained on him, and when he thought he had a chance, he dropped his weapon clear and leapt, both hands extended.

Reavers caught Harris's right boot, and they came to a skidding halt.

Only half of Harris's upper body was on the roof. The other half was dangling over the edge, the parachute fully inflated by the driving storm continuing to tug him from Reavers's grip.

With Reavers preventing him from floating away, Harris got enough play in one of the main straps to undo the clasp and let it go. The chute instantly flattened and began snapping in the wind With the tension reduced, the other clasp was free and released in seconds. The parachute then floated away for about fifty feet until it hit the southeast corner of the West Wing. There it came to rest flapping in the wind, hugging the building.

RAPP HONESTLY THOUGHT they were about to pull off the infiltration without a hitch. And then he heard the call that Whiskey Four was in trouble. His ears perked up, and his eyes intently watched the small monitor at his feet. The terrorist on the screen was sitting with his back to the door. Rapp could see the Tango's AK-74 leaning against the table within arm's reach.

After several tense seconds it came over the radio that Whiskey Four was okay and that the team was proceeding into the mansion. Rapp eased a bit, and then he saw the Tango come forward in his chair. Rapp's body shifted forward as he continued to watch the small screen at his feet.

The Tango had seen something on one of the monitors, but Rapp couldn't see what it was. When the terrorist's left hand reached out, Rapp noticed what looked like a radio sitting on the console.

"Go!" The word came from his mouth without any thought or pause.

Rielly turned the key, twisted the knob, and shoved the door open. Rapp was moving through the opening instantly, his silenced MP-10 hugged tight, and his left eye boring down the sights. The terrorist's head was framed perfectly. The radio was coming to his mouth. He had already got the name Rafique out and was just starting to say something else.

Rapp squeezed the trigger once and held it for a second.

Two rounds spit from the end of the silencer and hit the Tango directly in the back of the head. The hollow-point Glaser rounds breached the skull and released a total of six hundred sixty lethal miniature projectiles. The terrorist was propelled forward, his head landing on the console and his radio dropping to the floor.

Rapp moved quickly for the terrorist's radio, saying over his lip mike, "I need help. Get the Whiskey Team over here on the double."

Keeping his gun trained on the open door that led out into the hallway, he grabbed the radio and brought it up to his ear. The voice he heard on the other end caused Rapp's skin to crawl. It was Aziz.

Rapp had to think fast. Speaking into his own headset first, he said,

"Control, we may have to go with jamming. Be ready to do so on my command." Rapp thought about how to play it. Afterjust a second or two he brought the radio to his mouth and hoped his clipped Farsi accent would work.

"Everything's all right. It was nothing."

There was silence for a moment, and then Aziz asked, "Who is this?"

Rapp hesitated for only a second. Into his lip mike, he said, "Control, jam everything! I repeat, everything!" AZIZ LOOKED AT the door to the presidents bunker and then at the electronic device in his hand. He spoke into his radio for a third time and then held it to his ear.

Nothing came back. Without having to be asked, Bengazi tried his radio.

The result was the same. Aziz calmly checked the digital pager clipped to his hip and then looked at Bengazi.

"Take Ragib, check the stairwell, and try to reestablish radio contact."

Aziz then turned to yassin, who was sticking a long spikelike object through one of the holes he had drilled.