Echo Six: Black Ops 5 - Strikeforce Syria Read Online Free Page B

secure the lower floors. He glimpsed his second-in-command approaching.
    "Guy, we have to find the Ambassador. Take the right. I'll check out the other end with Roy and Jesse."
    "Copy that," Welland sang out as he signaled to his men, and they fanned out along the corridor. Talley led his small group in the opposite direction, and they hit paydirt almost immediately; a door that was obviously soundproofed, thicker, and more sumptuous than the others. He signed to the other two men to cover him as he tried the handle. It was locked.
    "I'll do it," Roy offered.
    He looked at Reynolds. The man had sustained many injuries during his days as lead breacher, but when Buchmann wasn't around, he was still mightily effective. He nodded.
    "Go. I'll follow you in. Jesse, cover us."
    The big Sergeant charged, and his massive weight and strength smashed the door wide open. He rolled over and dived to the side, narrowly missing a burst of gunfire. Talley recognized the distinctive chatter of an AK-47. A hit on their ballistic vests from the heavy caliber bullets would be disabling, at least for a short time. At short range they could penetrate and kill. Talley tumbled through the door, rolling the opposite way, and saw an Arab staring at him, a Palestinian. It wasn't difficult to decide the man's origin, for he was the spitting image of the late and unlamented Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat. Maybe a little thinner, maybe a tad taller, but at a pinch it could have been him. He was standing behind a captive, an older man who knelt on the thick carpet. He had his pistol pointed at the man’s head.
    "Put down your weapons! Otherwise I kill the Ambassador."
    His voice was calm, yet there was an undercurrent of savagery, and he had little doubt the Arab would carry out his threat. He nodded to Roy, and both men lay down their guns on the carpet. The Arab nodded and twisted his thick, ugly lips into a sneer.
    Strange, it’s almost as if he’s been practicing that sneer; a weirdo, some kind of Arafat groupie, and right now, every bit as dangerous as the real thing.
    "You should not have come here, infidels! Now you will die, and my people will know that Ibrahim Abbas has once again killed the Crusaders who dared to interfere with the will of Allah."
    Talley ignored the bullshit. "Where’s the other man, Rothstein?"
    The Arab looked surprised. "Rothstein? Forget him. You are about to die. Say your prayers, if you think your false God will listen."
    He nodded. "Buddy, someone is listening, but it sure ain’t God."
    Abbas snorted his contempt and moved the barrel of the AK-47S away from the Ambassador. It was the move Talley had been waiting for.
    "Jesse."
    The 'thump' sounded loud in the brief silence, as Whitefeather's heavy, silenced sniper bullet smacked into the Arab’s brain. His body fell to the floor and lay crumpled in a bloody heap, like yesterday's garbage. Talley stepped over the liquid matter soaking into the carpet, a mix of blood and brains, to check the Ambassador. There was no need to confirm the terrorist was dead. The center of Cairo would not see any miracles this day. He turned to the older man.
    "Ambassador Perlman, we're here to get you out."
    The older man didn't move. "Who are you?"
    "NATO, we were invited in by Jerusalem."
    Talley helped him to his feet, and he nodded his head sadly. "In that case, I thank you for saving me, but many of my staff did not survive this day."
    "I guess not. Sir, we're looking for a man named Benjamin Rothstein. Is he here?"
    He shook his head. "It seems that everyone today is interested in Professor Rothstein. No, he is not here. The terrorists took him away as soon as they arrived."
    "Damn! Do you know where they took him?"
    He shook his head, clearly working something out. After a pause, he replied, "I'm afraid not."
    It was obvious he knew more than he was prepared to divulge, but it would have to wait.
    "Very well, we'll deal with him later. Right now, we need to get you out of here."