Not only that, but before Maria had left a half hour ago, she had hinted of even more exotic things to be experienced tonight. Stevens could hardly wait for the dark to come. Then he cursed to himself as his brain kicked in. He couldn't do anything tonight. It was the night of the raid and he was supposed to be on duty in the communication room of the embassy.
The range was set up to accommodate fifty firers at a time. The twelve members of the detachment took up only a small portion of the firing line. The range had zeroing bull's-eyes at twenty-five meters and E-type pop-up silhouettes that simulated the top half of a person ranging out to the far limit of a thousand meters. Each man took his time getting a combat zero on the twenty-five-meter target and then checked his zero at the various ranges.
Riley waited as calmly as he could. His weapons were ready. He could sense the nervous tension in the other members of his six-man team. He watched closely as the last two members of Eyes One finished test-firing their weapons. On the far side of the range, Lane seemed to have just about completed zeroing in the scope on the Haskins, plinking away at pop-up targets ranging from a hundred meters out to the barely visible ones at a thousand meters. To use the night scope during daylight, he had it set on reduced power with a cover that reduced the aperture.
Riley glanced over at Westland, the CIA agent. She seemed visibly impressed with Eyes One's proficiency with their weapons. After zeroing, Riley had led his team through their basic close quarters combat firing drill with both the pistols and the automatic weapons. They had practiced firing on the move and from stationary positions. Firing while doing forward rolls and wilting left and right. Firing when pivoting left and right and 180 degrees. Then they had done the same with the automatic weapons, firing from both the hip and shoulder.
"What do you think?"
Westland shifted her attention to Riley. "It seems like the members of your team are pretty well trained in how to use their weapons. How's everything else going?"
"We're ready. As ready as we can be. You have anything new from your end?"
She shook her head. "Nothing new. Kind of like the calm before the storm, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is. Nobody likes waiting. I'll be glad once we take off." He looked at the agent. "I thought your little commentary in the latrine was a nice touch. It certainly hit home on a couple of these guys."
Westland laughed. "I thought I'd fight fire with fire. I've always been kind of direct about things."
"It worked, although you and I both know some of these guys are too dumb or ingrained in their ways to change."
"I'm used to it."
Riley considered the woman. This was the most he'd talked to a woman in a long time. He kind of liked it. "How'd you get picked for this assignment anyway? Seems like the CIA would have pulled some guy out of one of their in-country teams down south."
Westland looked at him. Riley knew she was trying to figure out how much to tell him. He had always found that CIA people tended toward the side of paranoia.
"I've been pushing to get a field assignment for a long time. I think this job is a test so they can decide whether or not I deserve it."
Riley snorted. "Deserve it. Hell, some of the bozos I've seen running around in the field make the Keystone Kops look good. From what I've seen it's usually the opposite — you've got to prove your ability in order to get stationed over at Langley."
He watched her studying the members of Eyes Two test-firing their weapons. "Are we what you expected Special Forces soldiers to be like?"
"Am I what you expected a CIA agent to be like?"
Riley laughed. She wasn't going to give an inch. "Actually, yes and no."
"That's my answer, too, then. Yes and no."
Riley decided to persist. "I'm basing my answer on having worked with agency types before. I say yes because you strike me as competent and I have found most of them to be reasonably competent, although you have your share of losers just like we do. I say no because you don't have the attitude problem I found in a lot of them. The 'I’ve-got-a-secret' attitude. The 'I’m-better-than-you' attitude. You seem willing to work with us, rather than in competition with us. More interested in mission goals than agency goals."
He could see that he had her full attention now as she worked out her reply. "To be honest, I've never worked with Special Forces before. I've heard other agents really complain about it. They say you all think you're too good — and they say you're not as good as you'd like to think you are."
"Have you found that to be true with us?"
Westland shook her head. "Overall, no. There's some of that. More with the captain and the other team than with you and your people."
Riley nodded. He appreciated her honesty, and his ego was boosted by her last comment. It occurred to him that maybe she didn't have the typical macho attitude of most agency types because she was a woman. He silently laughed at himself. Brilliant thinking. He pointed toward the firing line. "Want to fire off some rounds? What kind of piece do you carry?"
Westland reached under her sweatsuit jacket and produced a 9mm Browning Hi-Power. Riley was impressed. A good weapon. He had half expected a snub nose revolver or some other worthless side arm. Riley led her over to the left side of Eyes Two. He could sense his team members watching them. He knew she could sense it, too. He pointed to a silhouette target twenty-five meters downrange. "How about that one?"
Westland nodded and took up a solid firing stance, legs slightly spread, one just in front of the other, a good two-hand grip on the weapon. She raised her pistol and fired nine rounds in rapid succession. Riley smiled. Every round a hit centered on the chest area of the silhouette.
"Good shooting. If I may make a suggestion though?" Westland nodded. "Go for the head. Every person who can afford it is wearing a vest now. Unless you got a hot load, say maybe Teflon slugs in that thing, you aren't going to stop someone wearing body armor. You'll put someone down for sure with a head shot. And if you're gonna shoot someone, you want to put them down. No shooting to wound or any of that crap you see on TV. Shoot to kill and make every shot count."
Westland nodded and reloaded her gun. There was one more thing Riley wanted to know. "I saw you practicing some sort of kata or taegeuk yesterday. Have you had martial arts training?"
"I have a brown belt in aikido."
"That's good. You look like you're in good shape."
Westland's head swiveled around. Riley put his hands up. "Hey, relax. I'm not trying to hit on you. I respect anyone who keeps themselves in shape." He laughed. "Regardless of whether they're a female agent or a woman agent."
Westland visibly relaxed. Riley smiled. "As well trained as you are, you ought to go with us, but I'm sure that wouldn't go over big with the powers-that-be."
Westland looked at him strangely. "That's one of the best compliments anyone has paid me in a long time."
Riley noticed Powers staring intently at the two of them. "Excuse me." He walked over to his team sergeant.
"Your eyeballs are gonna pop out of your head if you look any harder, amigo. What's up?"
Powers presented him with an innocent face. "What do ya mean 'what's up?' "
"I mean why were you staring at me?"
"Hey, come on, partner. I've known you for almost two years now and I haven't seen you spend more than ten minutes talking with any woman. Just kind of curious, is all." He nudged Riley. "She is kind of cute in her own way."
Riley rolled his eyes. "Give me a break. Professional curiosity is the only reason I'm talking with her." He noticed Eyes Two finishing up. "Let's get on back and get ready to go."