Tom Clancy's op-center_ acts of war - Tom Clancy [40]
Hasan knelt beside Seden. He lit a cigarette, took a few puffs, then held the lighted tip to Seden's chin. The dazed Turk shrieked. Hasan quickly cupped his hand on the colonel's mouth.
Hasan said something in Turkish. Seden shook his head violently. Hasan put the lighted cigarette to Seden's left earlobe. The Turk screamed again. He tried to push Hasan's hand away. The man standing beside him used his free hand to pin the Turk. Hasan withdrew the cigarette.
Suddenly, Mahmoud called Hasan back. The young man jogged over. There was hurried, quiet conversation.
Rodgers tried to turn and see what was going on, but Mallmoud pushed his face back around with the barrel of the gun. Vigorously alert because of the searing pain in his neck, Rodgers listened attentively. He heard a beep on the cellular phone. Hasan had pressed a button. Why?
And then with sickening swiftness the answer came to him. Mahmoud had. summoned Hasan, the group's linguist, to read the English words on the phone. Above one of the buttons was the word "Redial." The camp was the last place Rodgers had called. Mahmoud was calling it back.
Hasan was standing just a foot away. Rodgers could hear the phone ringing, and he was numb as he waited to see who picked up and what they said. Of all the stupid, goddamn slipups--
"Hello?"
It was Mary Rose. Hasan seemed surprised to hear a woman's voice, but he said nothing. Rodgers silently prayed for Mary Rose to hang up. He was tempted to shout for her to clear the ROC out, but didn't think they could do it in time. Not if these three killed him and Seden and went after it.
"Hello?" she repeated.
Don't say anything else, Rodgers thought. Please God, Mary Rose, don't say a word--
"General Rodgers, I can't hear you," she said. ".I don't know if you can hear me, but if you can I'm going to hang up."
She did. So did Hasan. With a look of triumph, he closed the phone and stuffed it back into Rodgers's shirt pocket. He spoke with the other two men for a minute. Then he glared at Rodgers.
"General Rodgers," he said. "You are not an environmentalist, I think. The American military is working with Turkish Security to find who? Us, perhaps?" Hasan moved his face closer until he was practically nose-to-nose with Rodgers. "So--you have found us. And this person who answered the phone. She is not in Gazi Antep."
"She is," said Rodgers. "At the police department there."
"There are mountainous regions between us and Gazi Antep," Hasan said disdainfully. "Your telephone would not have gotten through them. The only flat lands are to the southeast."
"This has a satellite uplink," Rodgers lied. "It goes over mountains."
The man behind Colonel Seden said something in Arabic. Hasan nodded.
"He says you're a liar," Hasan hissed. "This 'uplink' requires a plate a dish. We do not have time for this. We need to get to the Bekka Valley."
The Arab turned angrily back to Colonel Seden. The officer was more alert than before and breathing heavily from his ordeal. Hasan knelt beside him again and flicked on the lighter. Rodgers could see the Turk's expression in the light of the flame. It was defiant, God bless him.
Hasan asked Seden something in Turkish. The colonel didn't answer. Hasan jammed a handkerchief in his mouth, grabbed a handful of the officer's hair to hold his head steady, then put the flame under Seden's nose. The colonel kicked roughly at the ground, his cries muffled by the handkerchief. This time, Hasan didn't remove the flame. Seden's screams rose higher and he writhed violently to try and get away.
Hasan shut the flame. He removed the handkerchief from Seden's mouth. He spoke closely into Seden's ear. The colonel was panting, his legs and arms trembling. Rodgers could tell from his condition that Hasan was about to "get inside" him. That was the point in torture when the pain and not the mind was in control of the body. The will had been broken and the conscious mind was only concerned with preventing further pain.
Hasan