Line of Control - Tom Clancy [123]
He did not appear to be Indian.
Also, his cheeks and the area around his eyes were wind blasted red and raw. He looked like he could be someone who walked a long way to get here.
"How do you know that it was actually August who called me?" Friday demanded.
"Colonel August spent several years as a guest of the North Vietnamese,"
Rodgers said.
"He didn't tell them anything they wanted to know. Nothing's changed.
Why did he contact you?"
"Washington wants us to go to a point northeast of here, away from the line of control," Friday replied.
"But they didn't tell us why." "Of course not," Rodgers said.
"If we're captured by the enemy we can't tell them where we're headed."
He removed his radio and tried it. There was only static.
"How did Colonel August contact you?"
"TAC-SAT to cell phone," Friday replied.
"Clever," Rodgers said.
"Is he holding up all right?"
Friday nodded. As long as August kept the Indians off their trail, he did not care how the pack animal was holding up.
Rodgers walked over to Apu and offered him a hand. Water had begun to pool around the Indian's feet.
"I suggest we start walking before we freeze here," Rodgers said.
"That's it, then?" Friday said.
"You've decided that we should go deeper into the glacier?"
"No. Washington decided that," Rodgers replied. He helped Apu to his feet but his eyes remained on Friday.
"Even though we don't know where we're going," Friday repeated.
"Especially because of that," Rodgers said.
"If they want to keep the target a secret it must be important."
Friday did not disagree. He simply did not trust the people in Washington to do what was best for him. On top of that, Friday loathed Rodgers. He had never liked military people.
They were pack animals who expected everyone else to obey the pack leader's commands and conform to the pack agenda, even if that meant dying for the pack. Standing up to captors instead of cooperating for the good of all. That was not his way. It was the reason he worked alone. One man could always find a way to survive, to prosper.
Nanda and Samouel both moved to where Rodgers was standing with Apu. If the Indian woman had decided to continue on to the line of control, Friday would have gone with her. But if she was joining Rodgers, Friday had no choice but to go along with them.
For now.
Friday extinguished the torch by touching it to the melted ice. The water would freeze in seconds and he could knock the ice off if they needed the torch again.
The group continued its trek across the ice with Samouel in the lead and Rodgers and Nanda helping Apu. Friday kept his right hand in his pocket, on the gun. If at any point he did not like how things were going he would put them back on their original course.
With or without General Rodgers.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE.
The Himachal Peaks Thursday, 11:41 p. m.
It had been an arduous day for Major Dev Puri and the two hundred men of his elite front line regiment. This was supposed to be a straightforward sweep of the foothills of the Great Himalaya Range.
Instead, it had become a forced march sparked by surprising intelligence reports, unexpected enemies, evolving strategies, and constantly changing objectives.
The most recent shift was the riskiest. It carried the danger of drawing the attention of Pakistani border forces. Because of Pun's mission, it would be much easier for the enemy to cross the line of control at Base 3.
The Indian soldiers had been marching virtually without rest since they left the trenches. The terrain was merely rugged to start. Then the higher elevations brought cold and walls of wind. The successful attack on the paratroopers had given the force a much-needed morale boost as they continued to search for the Pakistani cell. But darkness and sleet had battered them as they ascended. Now they were looking at a climb that was going to tax their energies to the limit.
Then there was the unknown factor: the strength and exact location