© 2014 by Ronie Kendig
Print ISBN 978-1-61626-040-8
eBook Editions:
Adobe Digital Edition (.epub) 978-1-63058-057-5
Kindle and MobiPocket Edition (.prc) 978-1-63058-058-2
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial purposes, except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without written permission of the publisher.
Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
Additional scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any similarity to actual people, organizations, and/or events is purely coincidental.
For more information about Ronie Kendig, please access the author’s website at the following Internet address: www.roniekendig.com.
Cover Design: Kirk DouPonce, DogEared Design
Published by Shiloh Run Press, an imprint of Barbour Publishing, Inc.,
P.O. Box 719, Uhrichsville, Ohio 44683, www.shilohrunpress.com
Our mission is to publish and distribute inspirational products offering exceptional value and biblical encouragement to the masses.
Printed in the United States of America.
Table of Contents
Glossary of Terms/Acronyms
Character List
Sundry Characters
Special Forces Prayer
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Todd & Amy
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Todd & Amy
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Todd & Amy
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Todd & Amy
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Chapter 49
Chapter 50
Chapter 51
Chapter 52
Chapter 53
Chapter 54
Chapter 55
Chapter 56
Epilogue
About the Author
DEDICATION
To the U.S. Special Forces Community—
known as the Quiet Professionals.
You are warriors with humility and ferocity.
You possess courage and generosity.
You fight for freedom and those who cannot fight for themselves.
I pray this series honors the work you do, the men you are,
and your families who so tirelessly support you!
With a grateful heart … thank you!
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Special thanks to:
The Special Forces veteran who posed on the cover—thank you, sir, for your service and for the sacrifices you and your family have made as you have served. May God richly bless you!
Former Special Forces operator Jonas Polson for your service to our country and your vigilance over freedom. Thank you for your help and kindness with elements of this story.
Admiration and thanks to other Special Forces veterans who gave tips and tried to educate on the minutiae of all things SF. Clearly, I still have a lot to learn. Thank you, sirs!
Thanks to Colonel Dean (retired) for help with cybersecurity. Well, as much as you could give without making it necessary to have me killed (just kidding … mostly).
Thanks to Kirk DouPonce, who accepted the challenge to take this Rapid-Fire Fiction novel to the next level with an über-amazing cover! Thank you!
Thanks to my agent, Steve Laube, who remains steadfast and constant in an ever-changing industry. Thanks for keeping it real, Agent-Man!
Allen and Kellie Gilbert—thanks for your helping with skydiving information!
A million thanks to Julee Schwarzburg—editor extraordinaire!
Bethany Kaczmarek—girl, you got skillz! Thank you for your constant and incredible help in making this book stronger. You’re amazing!
Rel Mollet—Where would I be without you, friend? You keep me encouraged and laughing when, really, I just want to puddle up and cry. You’re one of the truest and most genuine friends I’ve ever had!
Thanks to the Barbour Fiction and Sales teams, relentless in their efforts to make our books successful: Shalyn Sattler, Annie Tipton, Rebecca Germany, Mary Burns, Elizabeth Shrider, Laura Young, Kelsey McConaha, Linda Hang, and Ashley Schrock.
LITERARY LICENSE
In writing about unique settings, specific locations, and invariably the people residing there, a certain level of risk is involved, including the possibility of dishonoring the very people an author intends to honor. With that in mind, I have taken some literary license in Raptor 6, including renaming some bases within the U.S. military establishment, creating sites/entities that do not otherwise exist, and other aspects of team movement/integration. Also, some elements of the story are pure entertainment and as with any work of fiction, demand a level of suspension of disbelief. I have done this so the book and/or my writing will not negatively reflect on our military community and its heroes. With the quickly changing landscape of combat theater, this seemed imperative and prudent.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS/ACRONYMS
AAR—After-Action Review
ACUs—Army Combat Uniforms
AHOD—All Hands On Deck
ANA—Afghan National Army
CIC—Commander In Chief
CID—Criminal Investigations Department
DIA—Defense Intelligence Agency
Glock—A semiautomatic handgun
IED—Improvised Explosive Device
Klick—Military slang for kilometer
M4, M4A1, M16—Military assault rifles
MRAP—Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected vehicle
MWD—Military Working Dog
ODA452—Operational Detachment A (Special Forces A-Team)
OPSEC—Operational Security
RPG—Rocket-Propelled Grenade
RTB—Return To Base
SAS—Special Air Service (Foreign Special Operations Team)
SATINT—Satellite Intelligence
SCI—Sensitive Compartmented Information
SFOC—Special Forces Operational Command
SOCOM—Special Operations Command
SIPRNet—Secret Internet Protocol Router Network
TEDD—Tactical Explosive Detector Dog
UAV—Unmanned Aerial Vehicle
WMDs—Weapons of Mass Destruction
CHARACTER LIST
Dean Patrick “Raptor Six” Watters (Captain)—Raptor team commander
Brian “Hawk” Bledsoe (Staff Sergeant)—Raptor team member; coms specialist;
rank – Staff Sergeant
Eamon “Titanis” Straider (SAS Corporal)—Raptor team member; Australian; engineering specialty
Fekiria Haidary—Zahrah Zarrick’s cousin; teacher
Kamran Khan—Taliban member
Lance Burnett (General)—Raptor’s commanding officer; attached to Defense Intelligence Agency
Lee Nianzu—assassin and associate of Zhang Longwei, son of General Zhang Guiern; Chinese
Mitchell “Harrier” Black (Sergeant First Class)—Raptor team member; combat medic
Peter “Z-Day” Zarrick (General, retired)—served as commander of Coalition Forces; Zahrah Zarrick’s father
Rashid Mustafa—brother of Ara, one of Zahrah’s students
Salvatore “Falcon” Russo (Sergeant First Class)—Raptor team member; team sergeant, aka team “daddy”; expert in ops/intel
Todd “Eagle” Archer (Staff Sergeant)—Raptor team member; weapons expert; team sniper
Zahrah Zarrick—a missionary teacher; daughter of General Peter “Z-Day” Zarrick
SUNDRY CHARACTERS
Amelia “Amy” Celine Archer—Todd Archer’s wife
Ara Mustafa—sister of Rashid, one of Zahrah Zarrick’s students
Ashgar Asad—drug dealer Majorca
Atash Mustafa—Rashid and Ara’s father; husband of Razia
Behrooz Nemazi—Pashtun
Boris/“Scythe”—hacker/spy
Specialist Bramlett—female MP at sub-base
Brie Hastings (Lieutenant)—personal aid to General Burnett
Candyman—callsign for Tony VanAllen, former Raptor team member
Chris Riordan (Lieutenant Commander)—Navy SEAL
“Cardinal“—a spy who works with General Burnett
Collin Ramsey (General)—Commander of the Coalition Forces
Ddrake—Tactical Explosives Detector Dog
Desi Watters—Dean Watters’s estranged sister
Donny Watters—Dean Watters’s brother
Ellen Green (Specialist)—female soldier who was captured with Dean during the ambush ten years earlier
Sergeant Elliott—mentor to Dean; police officer and former Army Ranger (Vietnam)
Grant Knight (Sergeant)—Ddrake’s handler
Hafizah Haidary—Zahrah’s aunt and Fekeria Haidary’s mother; has dark eyes
Ismail Sidiq (Colonel)—colonel in the Afghan National Army, Regional Command, North
Izzah Zarrick—Zahrah Zarrick’s mother
Jahandar Haidary—Zahrah’s uncle, father of Fekiria
Jahandar Peter Zarrick—Zahrah Zarrick’s brother
Jeffrey Bain—American journalist
Mr. Kohistani—director of Kohistani School; older; has a long, graying beard; brown eyes; 5’5”
Razia Mustafa—Rashid and Ara’s mother; not much older than Zahrah, married to Atash Mustafa
Sadri Ali—a known opium supplier
Sajjan Takkar/ “Variable”—an operative; a Sikh
SPECIAL FORCES PRAYER
Almighty GOD, Who art the Author of liberty and the Champion of the oppressed, hear our prayer.
We, the men of Special Forces, acknowledge our dependence upon Thee in the preservation of human freedom.
May we ever remember that our nation, whose motto is “In God We Trust,” expects that we shall acquit ourselves with honor, that we may never bring shame upon our faith, our families, or our fellow men.
Grant us wisdom from Thy mind, courage from Thine heart, strength from Thine arm, and protection by Thine hand.
It is for Thee that we do battle, and to Thee belongs the victor’s crown.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever.
AMEN.
Written by SF Chaplain John Stevey,
the 7th SFG (ABN) Chaplain, 1961
CHAPTER 1
Present Day
Can’t breathe. Can’t breathe.
He sucked in a hard breath. Fabric drew against his nostrils. Hot. Can’t breathe. No air! He thrashed, searching for freedom, for air … I’m going to die! At the thought, he jerked.
Where am I? A bounce smacked his head against something hard. Metal. Captain Dean Watters groaned. Opened his eyes. But couldn’t see. The meaty rumble of an engine warned him he was in a vehicle. The tail of one by the roaring sound and steel digging into his shoulder. The way his breath coiled back at him told him he had a hood over his face. Mouth taped. Hands taped. Feet—he tested his leg—taped.
Get out or die! Dean kicked. Tendons strained against his effort.
Brakes squealed. Gravity shifted and tugged him. Rounding a corner.
Again the engine roared.
Where are they taking me? Where’s Z?
Recollection swarmed him in a thick cloud of defeat. She’d walked out. Willingly. He couldn’t blame her. They’d been through the fires of hell and back since they were captured. The enemy had broken her. Gotten into her head and convinced her that helping them was the smart choice.
A sudden lurch made him slide.
Hands pawed at him as shouts erupted.
He was lifted….
The truck bounced.
Gravity pulled him left again—another corner. The truck must’ve turned. Then spinning …
Still blind and bound, Dean felt himself flying. Through the air. Unrestrained. He tensed, no idea where he’d land. What he’d hit. Or in what. And he prayed—begged—God to let him live. He had to live. Had to find her.
Down … down …
Crack!
He landed with a thud. White-hot fire shot through his shoulder and arm. He groaned around the tape over his mouth. Shoved aside the pain, reoriented himself. Brightness speared his eyes. Specks of light glittered through the thick fabric. He scrambled to his knees, desperate to know where they’d dumped him.
A siren wailed.
Shouts.
He knew those sounds, the shouts. The base. His captors had thrown him at the gate of the base. Armed with that knowledge, he remained still. Anything to let those with the weapons know he wasn’t a threat.
“Stay where you are! Hands in the air. Hands. In. The. Air!” The command came in English, Pashto, Dari, then Farsi.
Boots shuffled closer, along with more shouts to get his arms up. One service member came very close. It took everything in Dean not to move. One wrong twitch, and they’d put him down like a sick dog. A beam of light struck him. So much like the light torture.
The light vanished. “Dude’s tied up.” The voice was right over Dean. “Hold up.”
“Careful,” came another voice. “He could be rigged.”
Right. Why hadn’t Dean thought of that before? Am I? Mentally, he patted himself down but felt nothing strapped to him.
Whoosh!
Glaring white seared his corneas. He grimaced and ducked. Dean squinted rapidly, trying to force his eyes to readjust.
A Marine frowned at him as several others gathered around, business ends of their weapons aimed at Dean’s head. The lead Marine pointed to the tape as if asking permission.
Dean nodded and his body swayed. He jerked straight. Then his body pulled him backward. Dizzy … so dizzy.
The Marine ripped off the tape.
After a moment of prickling fire, Dean stretched his jaw. “Watters …” Breathe.
“He needs water!” a grunt shouted.
“No.” Dean shook his head. Wet his lips, which tasted of salt and blood. “Watters, Dean … Patrick … captain.” His vision was ghosting. “Four f–four—“ His body surrendered.
CHAPTER 2
Undisclosed Location, Six Months Ago
Speed.
Surprise.
Violence of action.
The three principles necessary for successful engagement of an enemy in combat. Many times these three words carry through the grainy feed of the hidden camera. The men moving beneath the staticky image,
unaware of the listening ear. Unaware of their vulnerability.
Their mission is not so different from mine, from those I fight for and with on a daily basis—to act without hesitation and with fierce action so the enemy can be caught unaware.
After verifying once more that the feed has gone live, I adjust the volume, punch the RECORD button, then settle back with my hot cup of tea to watch these elite special operators betray their every secret. Six men—only five in the room as of yet. I wait for their leader before putting on my headphones. The reception isn’t the best in the sub-base command center, but I worked out all the kinks, navigating the complications and smoothly rerouting around their jamming technology. Still there is an annoying static hiss I’d prefer to go without for as long as I can.
They really should update their systems. Then … then they might have a chance. But the orders to cut spending—well, any tech-savvy person knows cybersecurity is one of the first things in budgets to get axed. That right along with breakfast. No more promise of three squares when these idealistic punks joined up.
The whole thing makes me laugh. Why would any country cut its defense budget? Were they really that arrogant? They are the only country dialing down their military armaments while the rest of the world is ramping up.
Another man enters the command center. “And cue the entertainment.” I slip on my headphones and sip my tea. Raptor Six himself. Not real sure how he got that—Special Forces isn’t known for using the six designation on team assignments. Must be a personal thing with our fearless leader. Either way, it feels stupid to me. I mean, they sound cool—Mercy Six. Rainbow Six. Halo Six. Whatever. The military and their numbers and acronyms …
“So. Raptor team.” A guy with light brown, almost blond hair grins. He has this pretty-boy thing happening. Sort of reminds me of that guy who hunts demons with his brother on that one show … whatever it’s called. “I like it. Chicks’ll dig it.”
That’s Brian Bledsoe. Staff Sergeant. Now code-named Hawk—ha! Easy one to remember—Squawk Hawk. The guy quick with his tongue and his Glock. Not sure one could call him arrogant. He just isn’t afraid to voice his opinions. Which are many.
Their team commander, Captain Dean Watters, glares at the younger Green Beret. That’s something the team commander does quite well—glare. He isn’t big on words, but the dude can put some serious action behind the few words he utters. I wouldn’t want to meet him in a dark alley. Or any alley for that matter.