Rat-at-at-at!
Jakob fired, and the kid fell.
But the kid had been a distraction, a rush of footsteps coming up behind them.
Thor pivoted, dropped to one knee, and fired.
Rat-at-at-at! Rat-at-at-at!
Two combatants fell to the dirt, dead.
Weapons raised, Thor and Jakob crossed the courtyard and entered the main dwelling, frightened murmurs and the cries of children coming from a room to their right.
Jakob went through the door first, opened fire, dropping an older man.
Rat-at-at!
“Er det ham?”Is it him?
Rifle raised, Thor walked over to the man, lifted his NVGs, and shined the flashlight from his scope on the dead man’s face. “Nej.”No.
He drew his goggles back down, glanced around to see a half dozen women, some very young, huddled against the wall, staring at him with horror on their faces. He didn’t know Pashto, so he tried English. “We’re not going to hurt you.”
Then he saw her.
Samantha!
She sat on a bedroll in the corner, eyes wide, clearly terrified of him.
She screamed.
Thor jerked awake, sat up, found himself not in Afghanistan, but in his room at Amundsen-Scott Station. He got out of bed, his body drenched with cold sweat.
Fuck.
It had been a long, damned time since he’d had nightmares about Afghanistan. What the hell was Samantha doing in his dream?
He glanced at his watch, saw that it was zero-five-twenty. He had a meeting with Tower and Shields in forty minutes.
Knowing he wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep, he dressed and hit the gym for a quick run before heading back to his room to change and grab his computer. By the time he had dressed, Jones and Segal were in the hall waiting for him.
Jones took one look at him. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Just a long night.”
Jones grinned. “With the journal or with Dr. Park?”
“The journal.” Thor headed up the stairs to the second level. “How was the greenhouse—or did you and Kristi find someplace else?”
“Jesus.” Segal shook his head. “The greenhouse, man? Seriously?”
“How’d you hear about that?”
“Women talk to each other.” Thor made his way to the small conference room. He logged in while Segal and Jones made coffee and traded barbs over Jones’ sex life.
“I’m just saying it’s unprofessional, man. Do it on your own time.”
“You’re just jealous because you’re not getting any.”