The new police chief hadn’t earned my hatred yet.
Kundi and Burki were shouting at Harruck, pointing
to the ground, and then gesturing back up to the foot-
hills.
Shilmani was there and came over to me. “The guns
belong to Kundi. He says he bought them from the Tal-
iban.”
“Do you believe that?”
“It doesn’t matter what I believe. What matters is
that you can’t take them away, but I know you will.”
136 GH OS T RE CON
I raised my chin to Harruck. “Well, he’ll have to con-
fiscate them, and no one’s going to be happy about that.”
“He speaks English?” Harruck called out to me.
“Yes, he does. His name’s Shilmani. He works for
Burki.”
“Then come over here and help me translate,” said
Harruck. “They’re talking way too fast for me.”
“Do you really need me here?” I asked Harruck.
“Yeah, I do,” he said.
Behind us, the rifle squads had finished up with their
extinguishers, and the pickup trucks and Hummer were
still smoldering. I’d grown far too used to the stench of
burning rubber.
While Harruck went back over to Kundi and the water
man, with a tense Shilmani forced to go along, I pulled
Warris aside. “Now, where were we? Oh, yeah, I was tell-
ing you that if you think I’m going to filter my plans
through you, you’re dreaming. Okay?”
“Looks like you’ve got some good plans here, too.
Pissed off the locals. Got a whole sweeper team killed,
one of your own guys killed.” He gasped. “All right,
that was too far. Sorry . . .”
“Wow, when did you grow a pair?”
He puffed air. “The situation has changed. They
brought me in here to clean up an old man’s mess. I’m
hating it. I resent you for putting me in this situation.
And every time I set eyes on you it’s an instant replay of
that ass-chewing you gave me back at Robin Sage. I still
hear about it to this day.”
I balled my hand into a fist and drew it back.
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137
He sensed it coming. “Do it. Do us both a favor.”
“Mitchell?” cried Harruck.
He kept calling me by name in front of everyone, but
who was I to argue at that point? They were going to
dump it all on me anyway. I staggered over there like a
drunk and didn’t realize I was favoring one leg until
another pain needled up the hip and into my spine.
“Why were the minesweepers out here?”
I played dumb. “Uh, you told me you were going to
find out.”
“They had specific orders to sweep the other part of
the field.”
“Wish I could help you.”
“No, you don’t.”
I stood there, my gaze traveling a thousand miles
away.
“Scott?”
I finally looked at him. “What?”
“I want an answer.”
“I don’t know why the sweepers were here. And I
guess you can’t ask them. Maybe they got lost. Or maybe
they wanted to check out this side of the field, too. Who
knows . . .”
“You sent them here, didn’t you?”
“Guys, let’s get this under control,” said Warris.
Harruck looked at him, cursed, then told him to shut
the hell up.
Warris recoiled, stunned.
“I need to be with my men,” I said, my tone growing
even more sarcastic.
138 GH OS T RE CON
“And I need an answer,” snapped Harruck.
“All right, let’s cut to the chase, then,” I said. “I got
a four-star behind me and my mission. And I was per-
fectly within my mission’s envelope when I ordered the
field searched. I was defending my perimeter and pro-
tecting my men. The problem here is mission conflict.
All three of us are doing exactly what we should be
doing—which is why we’ve got a problem.”
“Why didn’t you notify me of what you did?” Har-
ruck asked.
“I would have . . . eventually.”
He gave a slight snort. “Well, I got the entire United
States Army supporting my mission, Scott. And it will
take precedence.”
Kundi drifted over to me and raised his finger. “You
went with Bronco. You talked to my father. You know
the right thing to do now. These weapons belong to us.
Don’t let anyone take them.”
“What’s he talking about?” Harruck asked.
“I don’t know. They smoke a lot of opium here. They
forget things.”
“This isn’t over, Scott. It’s just begun.”
I winced in pain. The leg again. “I hear you.”
“I’ll get with you later,” said Harruck.
“So will I,” Warris added.
I made a face. “I’ll be at the hospital if you need me.”
I took a detour before getting treated. I went back to the
comm center and called Gordon. I updated him and asked
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139
for anything he could dig up about Bronco and any con-
nection the spook might have to Zahed and the technol-
ogy industry. “I think he has something to do with the
EMP knocking out our Cross-Coms—if it’s EMP at all.”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks, and oh, yeah, Warris tells me he’s in com-
mand.”
Gordon’s expression turned guilty. “Not exactly.”
“Good, then I’m exactlyin command. Does that
make sense to you, sir? Two officers, one in command,
the other not exactly in command?”
“Mitchell, we knew how difficult this job could
become. That’s why we picked you for it. And you’re the
last guy on earth I thought would be bothered by the
politics. Everyone’s a bad guy there.”
“Even me?”
He nearly smiled. “Even you.”
“And you still believe that Zahed is the target and I
need to capture or kill him?”
“Absolutely. Without any doubt.”
“And what will that change?”
“Say again?”
He’d heard me. He couldn’t believe I was asking. I
sharpened my tone. “Sir, I asked what will capturing or
killing Zahed change?”
“Yours is not to question why but to do or die, sol-
dier.”
“Well, if we get him, then that’s one less terrorist
here, right? Oh, I forgot, we don’t have confirmation
that he’s actually a terrorist.”
140 GH OS T RE CON
“He’s scum. You said so yourself.”
“I did. But frankly, sir, there are too many people
attempting to undermine my mission. I’m losing confi
dence in my ability to complete it and I’m concerned
about our contribution to the overall effort here.”
“What the hell is that?” he cried. “The Ghosts fear no
one! Don’t throw that crap at me. You will complete your
mission—but if you’re telling me right now you want
out, I’ll relieve you on the spot and give it to Warris.”
“He’s a yes man for Harruck, so you won’t get jack if
you give it to him. He’s not playing for us anymore, sir.
Somebody got to him.”
“Are you serious?”
“As a heart attack, sir. And now I’m supposed to go
through him before making a move. I’m letting you