The group remained silent, using hand signals and proper movement. They moved like panthers, creeping up on their prey. Drago was surprised how quickly they made their way up the hill. They were close now, the mouth of the cave nearing.
Then, he heard a familiar noise, though it took a moment to register.
From high above, a Soviet jet approached. Drago looked up, scanning the sky, taking a moment before he could see the plane. It was an Su-25, an advanced single-seat aircraft, and it was headed in their direction at breakneck speed.
“What the—” Drago began, but didn’t have enough time to finish his sentence.
The Su-25 approached at a downward angle, swooping low, racing in at full throttle, death from above. It was cutting edge design, the Su-25 paving the way for even better aircraft later. It was a single-seater, this one with a single mission.
Drago heard the noise, looked up and jolted. A lone missile came streaking down from the clouds, headed straight at them. “Down!” Drago shouted, dropping to the ground. The other pilots did the same.
The missile roared above, much too close for comfort. It moved fast toward the cave, moments later entering the reddish abyss.
It entered the cave like the others. Direct impact, no explosion.
Mere seconds later and the Su-25 pulled up, banking high, its engines whining as the pilot flew away.
“What the fuck was that?” Suvorov exclaimed, pointing. All six men stared at the departing jet, absently brushing the desert dust from their clothing.
Irritated that he received no warning, Drago jumped up, running to the open canopy of his helicopter. He reached in, grabbing the mic and headset. “Kilo Base, this is Firebird Alpha Red! Be advised, we have an unknown aircraft above. The damn thing just shot into the cave!” he exclaimed.
“Copy, Alpha Firebird Red,” was his only response.
“What the hell was it?” Drago dared to ask. He was determined to get answers, uncaring of what his superiors thought. “We were never debriefed. Is that plane cleared?”
“Alpha Firebird Red, you are to stand down,” came the order. “Stand down and maintain contact. The plane is authorized. Now stay off the radio, red leader. Keep the communications channels clear.”
Drago shook his head in frustration. He was tempted to bark into the radio, to voice his discontent, but knew that might be a mistake. He didn’t want to risk angering the wrong person, potentially ruining his career. Instead, Drago looked back to the cave, to the special forces men who were fast nearing the smoke at the cave’s entrance.
It didn’t take long. The red tone began to change, to morph with the newest chemical. Soon enough, the color altered once more.
Drago watched as Kirov’s men hesitated, nearing the cave entrance, allowing this new batch of smoky substance to clear. It was fast acting, like the others, and quickly began dissipating. Black smoke. The chemical had reacted as it was supposed to, at least in theory, though Drago knew no better.
A few more minutes passed, time standing still, all life in the valley concentrated on this cave high above. Then, Drago watched the figures of Kirov and his men, wearing chemical suits and respirators, carrying AK-47s, as they entered the cave.
“I don’t like this one bit,” Drago said.
20
Deep inside the cave, Ahmed turned the corner, one last remaining tunnel straight ahead. It ran uphill approximately seventy meters, right toward the opening. He had a tight grip on his RPG, jogging up the incline. A wicked grin was on his face.
“Today is a good day to die,” he said. “Death to the enemy.”
Ahmed’s intentions were clear — he wanted to take out at least one helicopter. Just one! If he died after, so be it, but he hoped to get at least one.
He could no longer hear the beat of the rotors. Ahmed hoped they hadn’t flow away. He kept running, though, just in case. He knew this cave was undiscovered, unknown to the Soviets. He knew his hideaway was safe. The Soviets would assume the village contained his men, and they’d approach it, only to be taken by surprise from behind.
Ahmed prayed they had landed. He could kill more that way.
The whole point of this cave, of its design, was to camouflage their location by having it near a village. This would keep the Soviets focused in the wrong direction. This cave was an integral part of this war, a base of operations that gave orders to thousands of Mujahideen. They coordinated attacks from here, and if found, they’d have to defend it.
They should have refrained, remained hidden. But Ahmed insisted they come from hiding and fight. His men thought it was pride, thought it was because he cared for his people below, innocents mostly.
But it had nothing to do with the villagers, his people. Ahmed wanted revenge, he wanted blood. Nothing more, nothing less.
It would take his men a few minutes, but they’d gather up their gear and soon join this fight. Oh what a glorious day this would be. They’d exit into the daylight, weapons ready, prepared to kill and die for their cause.
Just as Ahmed, they, too, wanted revenge.
How dare the Soviets invade their land?
How dare they…
Ahmed kept jogging, turning the final corner with visions of a crashed helicopter and helpless pilots. He held his wicked grin and ran.
Then, something unexpected happened. Ahmed heard a thud. It rattled the inside of the cave, giving him pause.
Then another. And another. Ahmed paused a moment, listening intently. In the distance, he could hear a hiss, he could smell something strange, see a strange cloud roll through the cave toward him.
Ahmed’s eyes opened wide. He was frozen in shock. The thick plume of smoke filled the cave. First green, then yellow, then red.
Ahmed didn’t have time to run. He looked around, turning and taking a few steps. He tucked into an alcove, a mere gap in the rock wall, and pushed his body tight against it, eyes shielded.
This provided little protection though.
Minutes passed. Ahmed waited longer, attempting to hide in the rock wall.
Thump.
Another thud, this one louder, this was spewing its contents quickly.
A denser, rolling black fog pushed at him, filling the tunnel and racing down into the cave.
The smoke filled every crack, every crevice. It overwhelmed Ahmed in its darkness as he took a final deep breath and held it.
The black chemical fog engulfed Ahmed.
More came, an endless amount, filling the cave, drifting down deep, toward the others.
The cave was now pitch black.
Chaos ensued.
The twenty-four members of the Spetsnaz teams finally gathered at the top of the path, the mouth of the cave looming nearby. They scanned their surroundings, seeing no signs of life.
No birds.
No reptiles.
The wind was even silent.
They peered inside, but could hardly see anything. The dense black smoke had filled the cavern, the teams waiting impatiently as it dispersed. They listened intently, rifles ready. Not a whisper, not a groan. Nothing.
They expected all were dead. This made their job easy. They would investigate, collect samples, but the truth of the matter was, the Muj had to be dead. Nobody could survive that, and the lack of noise inside the cavern was enough to put them at ease.
The last missile hadn’t taken them by surprise as it had the helicopter crews. They knew of its arrival. This mission compartmentalized each stage of the operation for the sake of the success of this well coordinated plan.
Five more minutes passed, finally enough time for the chemical to have fully disappeared. The troops were curious about this, a bit reluctant too. The fog of black slowly wafted out, drifting up and away, eventually disappearing into the sky above.