“These are the Judean hills. They are not exactly the Alps, but they do present some difficulties. We’ve sent one team through them, but ran up against outposts of The Knife as far away as fifty miles. The closer the team made it to the sea, the heavier the protection became, until they were unmasked and butchered before they even saw the Dead Sea or the large palace where The Knife now lives.”
“Salinity in the sea was what again?” Jaybird asked.
“On the surface and for fifteen feet down, it’s a regular thirty-three percent, winter or summer.”
“Wow. I swam once in the Great Salt Lake, and I remember they said it varied there from five to sometimes fifteen percent. Won’t it be hard just staying underwater out there?”
Ebenezer smiled. He was about thirty, and had the underwater badge on his blouse. “Yes, it can be. When we dove in the Dead Sea, we used additional five-pound weights to help keep us just below the surface. Depends on your basic weapons package and how much ammo you carry.”
“Can you get us closer than twenty miles?” Lam asked.
“That is a problem. The Authority ranges over that area down there. They provide an outer ring of protection for their hero El Cuchillo.”
“We’ll have to use the rebreathers,” DeWitt said.
“So, you get us into the sea down twenty miles and we make it to the target and do him,” Murdock said. “Then how do we exfiltrate?”
“We’ve heard that the Authority has power boats that can patrol the sea near their area,” Lieutenant Ebenezer said. “The boats in that salinity float extremely high in the water and can go thirty knots instead of twenty.”
“Boats would not be a big problem,” Mahanani said. “We’ve tangled with some of the toughest.”
“No chance to get overland to that town over there, Yatta?” Bill Bradford asked.
“That town is also in an area where the Palestinian Authority has a lot of control,” Corporal Almon said.
“So if we have to go back down into the Dead Sea,” Murdock said, “can you pick us up at the same point you dropped us off?”
“That depends,” Lieutenant Ebenezer said. “We’ll be in the Authority’s unofficial zone. We might disturb them some when we take you in, and then as we get back to our safe house or home country. If we do, it will be tougher to get you out.”
“Hell of a lot easier than walking,” Luke Howard said.
“We’ve been left high and dry a time or two,” Murdock said. “The men like to see the extractors do their work after we’ve done ours. Why not a chopper pickup? I don’t remember the Palestinians having an air force.”
“Possible, possible. We’ll need communication with you. The small radios won’t do for that. We need something with a hundred-mile radius. I’ll provide two for you before you leave.”
They talked about weapons, and decided on one Bull Pup since this should be an up-close operation.
“Yeah, oh, yeah, maybe,” Jaybird croaked. “Hey, I’ll carry a second twenty over my back. I say we take some long-range protection just in case we need it.”
They moved on. Timing. How long would it take the SEALs to move twenty miles up the beach and in the water after drop-off? They decided on a night raid.
“We work best at night,” Franklin said, who had just come in from the hospital.
“Who’s that we, Franklin?” Fernandez chirped. “Not what your girlfriend tells us.” Everyone laughed.
“What’s the shoreline like?” Senior Chief Sadler asked. “Is it swampy and marshy, full of salt brine, or hard and firm for hiking?”
“Much of it’s on the mushy side, no plant growth, salty mud I guess I’d call it,” Corporal Almon said. “You’d have to move away from the water fifty feet to get solid footing.”
“Any people in that desert?” Jefferson asked.
“Almost none until you get to the immediate area around the little town of En Gedi. It has developed into a minor farming zone with small plots of fertile ground under cultivation and most truck garden crops for easy sale.
“Last we knew, there were about three hundred people in the little town. About half are farmers and the rest earn their daily bread by protecting The Knife.”
“He’s retired by now?” Bill Bradford asked.
“Not a chance,” Ebenezer said. “He works every day, helps maintain a PLO web site, has e-mail and a satellite phone. He’s sharp, vindictive, active. When he was asked by some of his followers when he was going to retire, he said he would quit when the U.S. and the Jews all got out of all of the Arab lands, including Israel.”
“How many men will we need?” DeWitt asked. He looked at Murdock.
“One squad should be able to do it, but we may need the rest of the platoon for backup and security once we get to the target. I’d say we take both squads, unless that presents some transport problems for the Israelis.”
“Eight or fifteen, not much difference,” the corporal said. “I assume that your wounded man will not make the trip.”
“I checked with the hospital last night. He’s restricted to the post for a week, so he won’t be going. Tough luck, Franklin.”
“Hey, Skipper,” Franklin bellowed. “I’m fucking ready for duty. I hardly even limp anymore.”
“Sorry, sailor, the medics have spoken.”
Corporal Almon watched the interchange with a grin. Then he went on. “We’ll either go in to the bank by sedan or chopper. Just how will depend on the situation in the surrounding territory and the temperature of the terrorists and their scale of attacks during that week. A chopper would be my first guess here.”
“Any timing?” Senior Chief Sadler asked. “Like any holy days where they would be less vigilant?”
“Do unto them,” Lieutenant Ebenezer said, laughing. “I know what you mean, but their holidays don’t offer much help, and I don’t know of any coming up soon.”
“We’d want an early start in the afternoon from our Initial Point, so we can hit any inhabited areas just after dark so we don’t tip our hand,” Murdock said. “We’d want to get to the water as soon as possible after full dark. Will it be all desert down there that we’ll be going across on this side of the Judean hills?”
“Our only IP is here at Rama; we’ll figure out the timetable for the aircraft we use. We can bring in a chopper here. We do from time to time, and the locals are used to seeing them come and go. No problem there. Yes, we leave at all times of the day and night.”
“How far and how much time do we need to get from Rama to the insertion place?” Jaybird asked.
“A direct line between the two is a little over fifty-two miles,” Corporal Almon said. “A flight line to take advantage of the Jordanian hills would be about fifty-seven miles. Remember, this isn’t Texas. We’re a small country.”
“Flight time for the forty-six would be about fifteen minutes,” Commander,” Jaybird said. “That’s at a hundred-sixty-five-miles-per-hour max speed.”
“I’d guess your Israeli choppers would have about the same speed,” Murdock said.
“Maybe five minutes more,” Corporal Almon said.
“Are we ignoring moving up the water by IBS?” DeWitt asked.
Murdock looked around the group. “Oh, for our Israeli friends. The IBS stands for Inflatable Boat Small, a Zodiac-type rubber boat that can do eighteen knots with a fifty-five-horsepower motor. Carries eight, so we’d need two of them.”
“I’m sure we could get them quickly from the U.S. Navy if you request them,” Lieutenant Ebenezer said.