"They are 'out of town' doing a penetration of Chechen controlledGeorgia for the purposes of a raid,"

Nielson said. "The area is one that even the Russian Spetznaz hasn't penetrated. It's been in Chechen hands for at least ten years. The nature of that raid is not in your need-to-know at this time. However, when they attempt to extract, on foot, they are likely to have every d.a.m.ned Chechen in the entire region on their a.s.s. If they are in contact or being closely pursued it is likely that DC will authorize you to engage the Chechens to stop them from crossing into Keldara territory. At the very least youare authorized to keep them from taking this valley and its infrastructure. Do you understand the three level structure of this brief?"

"Yes, sir," Guerrin said. "We play like we're doing training ops with the Keldara, we really make sure they've got a home to come back to and if they get dropped in the s.h.i.t we screen them on their way out.

The first is confidential, the second TS and the third absolutely black."

"The Keldara are using very out-of-the-way areas for their penetrations," Nielson said. "But the best egress routes are here, here and here," he added, pointing to three pa.s.ses. "They didn't go in that way because the Chechens have outposts and patrols covering those routes. But those are the egress routes.

They are also the primary routes the Chechens use to penetrateour area and the area that the Keldara do most of their missions."

"So if I ran my patrol ops up through there... my teams would be in position to support the Keldara,"

Guerrin said.

"Exactly. You're not quite a Go-To-h.e.l.l Plan, captain, but you're close."

"Whatis the Go-To-h.e.l.l plan?" Guerrin asked.

"Falls very strictly into need-to-know," Nielson replied. "There are...five people who know it. Including NCA in its entirety."

"I..." Guerrin started to ask a question then shut his mouth.

"Go ahead, captain," Nielson said mildly.

"Is this some sort of CIA black op or something?" Guerrin asked. "I figure the answer is going to be NtN but I figured I'd ask."

"The Kildar is entirely an independent operator," the colonel said. "We are not employed by the US Government in any capacity. The Kildar does, however, often take on missions that require a high degree of deniability or that theUS government isn't willing to touch with its own forces. Even the extremely black ones. I will not detail the nature of those missions but suffice to say they are important enough that the rewards from the missions pay for..." Nielson just shrugged and gestured around. "I will say this: the Kildar is the only person I've ever personally met who has a direct line to the president on the speed-dial of his phone. He rarely picks it up just to chat, but I've seen the opposite happen."

"You know, the first sergeant said this mission had a high rank 'smell' to it," Guerrin said. "I guess he was right."

"But be clear, captain," Nielson said. "This mission has a high priority due to the nature of the raid. Not because the Kildar can pick up the phone and talk to the president. More the opposite. We got the mission because the president knew we could do it and because Mike is onhis speed-dial. This was a mission that had to be black, it had to be politically correct in a very real meaning of the word-there were huge problems with both the Georgiansand the Russians but both were willing to trust the Kildar-and ithad to be successful.That is why the Kildar was tapped. Because he hasn't failed in a mission yet. Let's hope this isn't a first."

"Oh, hoowah!" Lane said.

Serris, looking around the new quarters, had to agree. The harem quarters were two stories and circular, the upper balcony and lower rooms facing into a center atrium with a fountain in the middle. The fountain had a sculpture in it, probably marble, so worn by the water the original statue had faded into something that looked modernist. But there was enough left of the original shape to determine that it had been two forms, horizontal and superimposed. Murals depicting pastoral scenes, some of the tiles missing, covered the walls between the doorways.

The south facing outer wall was mostly gla.s.s with complex metal filigree supporting it. It took Serris a second to realize that the metal was both thick enough and closely enough s.p.a.ced that it was, effectively, bars.

"I wonder what the rooms are like?" Lane said, leaning his M4 against the wall and dumping his ruck on the marble floor.

"Girl frou-frou," Staff Sergeant Gordon Keller their squad leader said, emerging from one of the rooms.

"The one with hundred mile and hour tape on it is off-limits. I have a reliable report that it may have one or more IEDs in it. The girl who uses it isnot part of the harem and currently 'out of town' with the rest of the group. There's a half dozen rooms that aren't occupied. Junior guys get those."

"So whereare the girls?" Lane said, grinning.

"Lane, did youhear the first sergeant?" Keller asked. "If you so much as talk to any of them, you are going to have an Article Fifteen so fast it will make your head spinand you are going to be out of the Batt and up at Ft. Bragg picking trash with the rest of the trash. Is that clear enough for you?"

"Clear, sergeant," Lane said with a grin. "But it also didn't answer the question."

"That's it," Keller snapped. "You are official bra.s.s detail for the rest of the mission."

"f.u.c.k."

"Just to keep you from getting too f.u.c.king curious, I've arranged a tour of the castle," Keller said.

"Among other things, it will point out the secure areas and the no-go areas. Effectively, you're restricted to this area the main foyer, the dining area and the living rooms. There are three offices on the first floor and the kitchen in addition. You are restricted from all of those areas. You are also restricted from the bas.e.m.e.nt areas and the upper floors. You're going to beshown some of that, but you are otherwise restricted from entering those areas."

"When are we going to get the tour?" Serris asked.

Keller turned at a quiet knock on the door and opened it to reveal a very pretty, andvery young lady wearing a school uniform.

"Staff Sergeant Gordon Keller?" the girl asked in good, if accented, English. "My name is Martya. I was instructed to give you and your soldiers a tour of the facility. I am at your disposal."

"Hoowah," Lane said making d.a.m.ned sure it was a whisper.

"Are these quarters acceptable, captain?" Anastasia asked, waving at the room.

The bedroom was about twice the size of the master bedroom of the house Guerrin had, until the divorce, shared with his wife. The floor was marble but covered in deep pile throw rugs that looked hand-made. The bed could best be described as "sumptuous", a king size four poster with those hanging things on the side. For that matter there was a desk and a small seating area and nice paintings, maybe originals Guerrin had no clue, covered the walls. There were two doors on one side and through the open one he could see enough that it was apparent there was an attached bathroom that was on the same order as the room.

The one odd aspect was that the two windows of the room were rather small and deep, making it deeply shadowed. Then he had to kick himself. Duh.Castle .

"The only problem with them is the vague feeling that I shouldn't be living like this when more than half my company's in barracks," Guerrin admitted. "And this is aguest room?"

"This is one of the three Distinguished Person guest rooms," Anastasia said. "We occasionally have visits from distinguished individuals and the Kildar felt it wise to set up some rooms for their stay and left the details to me."

"You do good work," Guerrin said. "You can decorate my house any time. If I could afford it."

"If you know where to shop, and have a ready source of labor to do sewing, it is not so expensive,"

Anastasia said with a smile. "What kind of house do you have?"

"Had," Guerrin said. "Lost it in the divorce. Pretty standard two story tract home. Liked it but not enough to stay. My wife liked a 3rdID officer more than me."

"I'm sorry," Anastasia replied.

"Yeah, well, she got the cats, too," Guerrin said with a shrug. "So I looked at it as a fair trade."

"Colonel Nielson asked that you join him in the tactical operations center as soon as you were settled,"

Anastasia said. "When you're ready just step out in the hall. I will have a guide waiting."

Guerrin followed the young lady to the lower level then into the main foyer. As they reached the area the front door opened and two females in flight suits, one short, one a bit above average female height, walked in the taller one chuckling about something.

"h.e.l.lo," Guerrin said, looking them over. Both were wearing those unfamiliar rank tabs and he made a mental note to find out what the rank structure of the organization was and how to read the tabs. "I take it I have you to thank for plucking me out of the trees. Captain J.P. Guerrin,United States Army."

"Captain Kacey Bathlick," the shorter pilot said, walking over to shake his hand. "Glad to give you a ride, captain."

"Captain Tamara Wilson," the taller added. "No problem. Any time."

"The young lady was showing me the way to the TOC," Guerrin said. "I guess we can touch base later.

I'd appreciate a bit more background on this place. Nothing confidential..."

"We're new here, too," Captain Wilson replied. "But we were headed down to the TOC, too. We can show you the way."

"Okay," Guerrin said, turning to his guide. The girl couldn't have been a day over seventeen and had some of the best knockers he'd ever seen in his life. "I go with them, yes?"

"Okay," the girl replied, smiling and shrugging. "Go back to cla.s.s."

"Cla.s.s?" Guerrin said as the two pilots continued across the foyer.

"All the girls are taking cla.s.ses," Captain Bathlick replied. "It may be a harem but apparently the Kildar would rather move them out with an education under their belt. Apparently he only took them in at first because n.o.body else would. It was that or dump them on the street to be wh.o.r.es. Concubines was a good second choice. Actually, the one girl we talked to saw it as a first choice if she'd had one. The Kildar's a big guy around these parts."

"More than aroundthese parts," Guerrin said.

"You noticed?" Captain Wilson said, dryly. "We got recruited by some spec-ops unit that works in the Pentagon. Just came to our apartment in DC and told us to get on the a plane toGeorgia , don't worry about visas, it's taken care of. And it was. You got flown over here like a FedEx package: guaranteed delivery by nine AM. They even diverted a C-130 on a relief mission for a part of this package. The guy has gotclout ."

"How long have you been here, if I can ask?" Guerrin said as Captain Bathlick, the shorter one, opened an obviously heavy door. When it was open it was apparent that it was steel and about as thick as an armored hatch on a cruiser. Since it was covered in a thin wood facing - not veneer: very thinly sliced wood-the st.u.r.diness wasn't apparent. Anybody trying to force the door was going to have to use some very advanced entry techniques. An oxyacetylene torch probably wouldn't even cut it.

"Not long," Captain Wilson answered. "We got recruited, flew over, agreed to the job, flew the same day to theCzech Republic , trained in on the bird and then flew it back. We only got here, again, a couple of days ago. We're still trying to catch our breath."

The door led to a narrow spiral staircase. Fighting down is always easier than fighting up but Guerrin wouldnot have wanted to fight down these. At the base was a small landing, another heavily armored door, this one undisguised, then a t-intersection to a corridor lined with doors.

"Welcome to the dungeons," Captain Bathlick said. "To the right is the TOC, commo room, signals intelligence and commander's combat office. To the left is the humint area. Prisoner holding and interrogation chambers on the lower levels."

"Holy s.h.i.t," Guerrin said. "This is a much bigger operation than I'd realized."

"Yeah," Captain Bathlick said. "When we got here we saw these, well, peasants running around with guns and thought 'what the f.u.c.k, over?' Then we started dealing with them and, well, the Keldara are something . I've barely had any dealings with the Kildar, mind you, but he's pretty interesting, too."

"Hmmm..." Guerrin said then grinned. "I'm coming up on my open resignation time. I wonder how you get a job around here?"

"You getasked ," Captain Wilson said, chuckling. "And you have to be veryvery good at what you do."

She paused and then grinned. "My that sounded arrogant."

"Ladies, you plucked me out of some trees and dropped me out of a SABO with the smoothest skill in a helo I've ever seen," Guerrin replied. "And now you tell me you've only got a couple of days in the bird.

I'm not going to knock your 'arrogance'."

"Why captain, I do believe that was a compliment," Captain Bathlick said. "Kacey," she added, holding out her hand.

"J.P.," Guerrin replied. "It stands for Jean-Paul. Long story."

"Star Trek fans?" Kacey asked, then shook her head. "Nah, not young enough."

"Tamara," Tammie added. "It's a short story. I'm named after a s.p.a.ce hooker."

"Excuse me," J.P. said, blinking.

"Love it," Tammie said, laughing at his expression. "It's a character in a book..."

"Tamara Sperling?" J.P. asked. "Tamara Sperling wasnot a 's.p.a.ce hooker.' She was a hetaera. More like one of the Companions in Firefly. Veryhigh status."

"My G.o.d," Kacey said. "The man reads Heinlein and knows about Firefly. There may be hope for the Rangers after all."

"I know," Tammie said, more or less simultaneously. "But I like 's.p.a.ce hooker' better."

"TOC's towards the end," Kacey said, continuing down the hall. "I'm not sure if you're permitted in intel or not so we'll just go there."

The door was steel again, undisguised this time. Not as heavy as the vault doors to get into the bas.e.m.e.nt area but still solid. Take a good breaching charge to take it out. Inside there was a young woman in digi-cam at a computer station with Colonel Nielson leaning over her shoulder. There were several more stations set up, most powered down, and a conference table on the left with a large map of the area on the wall behind it. Another wall had six big plasma screens, three of them set to world news the other three set to remotes somewhere in the mountains.

The major difference from any TOC Guerrin had ever seen was besides the usual coffee station there was a tea samovar and an espresso machine. Other than that, and the fact that every bit of equipment was state of the art, it could have been an American TOC anywhere in the world.

"Captains," Nielson said, turning and nodding then turning back to point to something on the computer.

He said something in a foreign language Guerrin didn't get.

"Da," the girl said, clicking the mouse. "Uploading." The latter was English.

"Welcome to Chaos Central," Nielson said, straightening up. "Captain Bathlick, we've got your LZs.

Which to use depended on weather. There's some really heavy weather coming in. I'm not sure we can make the drop early this evening. It might be late tonight. And the winds may still be high."

"We'd better go get some crew-rest, then," Kacey said. "Brief later?"

"That works," Nielson said. "Brief at 2000 and lift-off based on weather?"

"Should work," Kacey replied. "One helo?"

"You should have lift for it," the colonel replied. "You're bringing in the body armor on this one, though.

It will probably require three sorties. Touch and go. Just dump the s.h.i.t out the door and keep moving.

Don't stop. You're getting into the edge of Injun country on this one. The Keldara will be securing the LZ but that doesn't mean it will be fully secure."

"Okay, in that case I'mdefinitely gonna get some rest," Tammie said. "Night ops in a new bird in the mountains doing a drive-by. Sleep is a good thing. Captain Guerrin, catch up with you later."

"Okay," Guerrin said. "Later."

"Nice girls," Nielson said after they'd left. "Marines. They got involved in a hairy mission and the Marine bra.s.s freaked and yanked all their females out of any potential combat missions. So they went looking for work."