Whiplash

Da

Rebels were screaming and firing indiscriminately. The troopships were landing on the perimeter. The gun battle was already a chaotic swirl, and it was only just begi

Sensing that staying low wasn’t going to protect him much longer, Da

The outer vest saved him, but the force still took his breath away. It took him nearly a minute before he could roll back to his stomach and began crawling again.

“Don’t shoot him!” yelled Tilia.

Da

By now the Sudanese troops who’d landed were firing at the rebels. Some of Red Henri’s troops swung around to meet the approaching threat. But they found themselves caught in a cross fire, as both Colonel Zsar and Uncle Dpap’s soldiers fired at both them and the regulars.

“Did you do this?” Tilia demanded.

“Hell no!” said Da

“Who did?”

“I have no idea.”

Instead of answering, Tilia raised her gun and fired a long burst at one of Red Henri’s trucks, cutting down one of the machine gu

He crawled to him. Dpap’s head was covered with blood, and his eyes were dazed, focused on something far beyond the battlefield.

“Are you all right?” Da

Da

She’d lost everything. Even if she got out of there, even if no one else in Uncle Dpap’s army was hurt, Tilia’s position in the troop was done. Dpap’s brother, who was back in the village safe, would not give her the respect or the position Uncle Dpap had.

IT WAS COMMANDER JOHN WHO HAD BETRAYED THEM. Resenting his brother’s domination, he had been working with a spy from the Sudanese army for months, waiting for the right opportunity. After alerting his contact of the meeting, he had given a cell phone to one of the young soldiers who slept in his house and told him to make a call when the meeting began. Egyptian advisors to the Sudan army had been waiting; they found the nearest cell tower to the phone within seconds, and the ambush was launched.

TILIA LOOKED MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN EVER IN THE FIERCE red light and violent white flashes of the battle. The image burned into Da

Never had he felt so hopeless.

“You have to retreat,” he yelled to her. “Get your men. Come with us.”

She pretended she didn’t hear him. She had already decided she would kill as many men as possible today—Red Henri’s, the government’s, whoever she could. And then she would take Uncle Dpap’s body back to their people.

“Boss, time for us to get the hell out of here,” said Boston over the radio. He’d pulled the men back to the trucks. So far no one had been injured—but that was only through sheer luck.

“Where’s Flash?” Da

“He’s looking for you.”

“Tell him to get back to the truck,” said Da

“Go,” she said.

He took a half breath, then pushed away. His first step was toward the trucks. Then he remembered that he had not gotten the biomarker onto Tarid.

He changed direction, ru

The Voice warned that there were more choppers on the way.

“Where’s the colonel?” yelled Da

No one answered.

“I need Arabic,” he told the Voice. “Translate, translate.”

“Translate mode operational. Phrase was already delivered.”

“Again,” said Da

The soldiers didn’t respond. One of the men had retrieved a mortar from the truck and was loading it to fire.

“You have to retreat,” Da

The mortar shell whipped upward, sailing far over the regular army’s position. Two of the rebel soldiers began shouting corrections.

Always in the past, the rebels were the ones on the offensive. The ambushed regulars, taken by surprise, would quickly panic. They expected the same now, not realizing these were specially trained troops who’d worked for months with Egyptian advisors. They were not about to give up easily.

Da

“You have to retreat,” Da

The man turned. It wasn’t Zsar, but one of his lieutenants.

“I don’t have time for you, gun dealer,” said the man.

“The army is sending reinforcements.”

“Did you bring them?”

“I’m not a fool.”

The lieutenant pulled his pistol out. He was angry about the ambush, and though he believed it was Red Henri’s fault, he couldn’t be sure. At the moment it didn’t matter—he pointed the gun at Da

“You betrayed us,” he said. “Why are we being attacked? We’ve never been attacked.”

The Voice translated, but Da

“Not me.” Da

He said the words in English, ignoring the translation.

The lieutenant straightened his arm to fire. Da

A burst of fire took the officer down.

“Let’s go! Let’s go!” yelled Boston, appearing at Da

“I need Tarid,” said Da

“Screw that.”

“I need to tag him,” insisted Da

About five yards from the trucks he spotted a knot of men hunkered near the road. They were a good thirty yards away, kneeling and crouching. A battered pickup sat between them and most of the battle.

Tarid had to be among them, Da

“This way!” he yelled to Boston.

Da

He raised his rifle as the two men approached, then realized it was the arms dealer. His respect—and fear—of Bani Aberhadji was so great that it overcame his suspicions that the man had arranged the ambush. Still, he had little use for him, and debated whether to shoot him as he ran.

Da

“The army is sending reinforcements,” Da