“Sniper teams in position,” Praz said over the radio.
“Dart team one in position,” Sawn whispered. “All targets present.”
“Dart two in position,” Parak whispered. “Ready.”
“Bravo entry, ready,” Adams said.
“Alpha entry…” Mike whispered back, looking around, “ready. Initiate.”
Sawn peeped through the scope and calculated the wind, again. The darts were very low velocity and tended to drift with the slightest wind. And the range was long for the shot. He wished that it was Praz or Lasko doing the shooting, but he would have to do.
There were four of the Fijian guards gathered by the lower gate to the villa. One was the sergeant, which was what they had been waiting for.
Sawn took a deep breath and then paused and looked at Parak.
“Two right,” Sawn said, wiggling the dart held between the fingers of his left hand.
“Got it,” Parak replied laconically. The team sniper was far more sure of his shots.
“If I miss…” Sawn said.
“Follow over,” Parak said. “Copy. Same for you.”
“You won’t miss,” Sawn said, taking a breath and letting it out.
He took his first shot, followed quickly by Parak’s first. The sergeant stopped gesticulating and reached for the dart that had sprung up on his chest, looking at it in a puzzled manner.
By the time he’d started toppling Sawn had rotated the bolt of the air gun and slid in the next dart. He hadn’t even lined up his next shot, however, before Parak fired. Sawn took his time, though, making sure of his target and trigger control before firing. That dart sunk in as well and the Fijian guards on the gate were all down.
“Target one down,” Sawn whispered, sliding back through the concealing underbrush.
“Target two down.”
“Snipers.”
Praz looked through the scope and calculated the shot one more time. The east target was easy, the south target harder. And there was no telling when the rover would show up.
He took a slight breath, waited for his heart to pump to diastolic and then gently squeezed the trigger of the customized sniper rifle.
“South target down,” Tariel said. “Not moving.”
Praz had felt the round was right and was already tracking to the second target. The question was whether he would hear the first fall and, sure enough, he was moving, reaching for a radio. Praz led him a touch and fired.
“Miss,” Tariel said as the man paused and looked around wildly, crouching behind the ornamental railing. He had his radio up, now, and was talking into it excitedly.
Praz, rotated the bolt one more time and lined up the target’s head. At this range it was not exactly an easy shot, but it was the only portion in view. Wait, wait, squeeze.
“Target,” Tariel said. “He’s all over the patio.”
“I can see that,” Praz said, sliding back and wiping at the sweat on his forehead. “Keep looking for targets.”
“Wake up you idiot!” Imer Emini said, running into the computer room. “Kreznik said we were under attack!”
“I heard,” Oltion Dzaferi said, sitting up and wiping his eyes. “Where are they?”
“That is what all this is there to tell us!” Imer snarled, waving at the computers. “Turn on the monitors! Kreznik, report!” Imer paused and looked at the radio, shaking it for a moment in frustration. “Gustini? Pejerin? Victor? Anyone?”
“Shkumbin, here,” the upstairs guard replied. “What is happening?”
“I don’t know,” Imer replied, breathing hard. “Go to one of the girls’ windows and look out. See if you can see anything. Oltion, get those black-asses on the phone and ask them what is happening!”
“I go,” Shkumbin said grouchily.
“Stay on the radio,” Imer continued. “Keep talking. Oltion?”
“There is no reply from the black-asses,” the technician said, shrugging. “I need to turn on the lights to see with the monitors.”
“Not yet,” Imer said, cautiously. “Shkumbin?”
“I’m in the girls’ room,” Shkumbin replied. “I see nothing out the—”
“Target, upper window three,” Tariel said, quietly.
“Got it,” Lasko replied, stroking his trigger.
Imer looked up at a crash from above and then snarled.
“Get on the phone to town! Tell them we’re under attack!”
“Phones are out,” Oltion said, shaking his head. “And internet.”
“Begin dumping,” Imer said, shaking and drawing his pistol. “I will go buy you time to dump all the data…”
The last thing he consciously recognized was the sound of the door blowing in.
“Computer room secure,” Mike said, lifting his balaclava. “Clear. Vanner, get to work.”
“On it, boss,” the intel specialist said, sitting down at the first computer and waving Greznya to the second.
“I count eight tangoes down,” Adams replied. “Preparing to sweep upper floors.”
Mike stepped out into the corridor as more Keldara women flooded into the room. Keldara were moving from room to room in a coordinated sweep, searching for additional targets.
“Bravo Six,” Adams said. “Sweep complete. One down tango in an upper room, courtesy of Lasko, at a guess. Six girls.”
“Grab ’em and get down here,” Mike said. “Vanner?”
“We’ve got the hard drives,” Vanner said, standing up. “What about the files?”
“Savo! Packs!”
“Ignition system in place,” Adams called. “The place is rigged.”
“Five minutes, people,” Mike called as the Keldara women started ripping files out of the drawers and filling the bags the militiamen held out to them. “Greznya, start the count.”
Yarok looked at the devastated villa and shook his head.
“They took down the Fijian guards with tranquilizer guns,” he said, sighing. “They clearly did not want to anger KFOR excessively. Then they, apparently, took down the villa’s defenses, took the girls and probably other information and torched it, rather expertly, on the way out. There was one Fijian guard who said that from the time he heard the first shots to when the vehicles left was no more than five minutes.”
“I will kill them all,” Boris roared. “This cannot be permitted!”
“Oh, agreed,” Yarok replied, sighing again. “But you’ll recall that I recommended increasing security at all facilities in this area. There were only the normal eight guards here.”
“That should have been enough,” Boris snapped. “Especially with the Fijians. These Americans are wizards!”
“Hardly,” Yarok said, musingly. “They took down the outer guards with snipers. Good ones, too. I have found one sniper point, I believe, and it was a seven hundred meter shot with a crosswind. That is a world-class sniper. However, with the outer guards down, that left only four. What I’m wondering is how they found the plan to the house.”
“What do you mean?”
“To do something like this, this cleanly, you have to know where you are going,” Yarok said, rubbing his lips in thought. “You need a layout to the house. Otherwise you’re running around trying to find your targets. I would say, from the time that was given by the remaining guard, that they had to have the layout to the house. And given the defenses, I don’t see how they could have entered it beforehand. So…”