ENCOUNTER by Hep Aldridge (bill gates books recommendations .txt) 📕

Dimitri said in almost a whisper, “Reggie, get the ones in the rear.”

It took me a second to figure out what Dimitri had planned. Now everyone was watching Palo except the boss, who was walking away as the soldier raised his pistol to the Watcher’s head.

I heard the bark of the Barrett, followed quickly by the report of the Remington Magnum. By the time the soldier with the pistol heard the sound, the .50 caliber round had entered his back, exited his chest, and hit the local guy standing behind the kneeling Watcher, center mass. Both went down, dead before they hit the ground, along with one of the three men at the back of the line. The Barrett barked loudly again, and another man at the rear dropped his weapon, fell to the ground, and grabbed his shattered leg, screaming. The rest had scattered and were taking cover as best they could. The last man in the column moved forward past the Watcher, looking in our direction, paying no attention to the old man. There was no one left behind him, and in my mind, I screamed, “Run,” and at the same time heard Jeannie’s command to do the same thing.

The Watcher took a quick look around and bolted back down the way they had come. No one was paying him the slightest attention as we peppered their position with a fusillade of gunfire. He had obviously been playing the part of old man because, as he got further away, I saw him burst into the fluid loping motion I remember seeing him exhibit at our interview in Tamara’s village. Within minutes, he was out of sight and out of harm’s way.

Now, the firefight began in earnest as the rest of the mercs found cover and began returning fire. They had not determined our exact location, so their firing was only in our general direction. Surprising them with the ambush and hitting them from above and at ground level had momentarily disoriented them. Still, their return fire soon became more accurate as our firing positions were identified.

I probably need a point of clarification here. If I gave you the impression that the roadway was open and clear, that was wrong. While there was no undergrowth to speak of, it was littered here and there with rocks and boulders that had fallen from the canyon walls. The mercs were using this cover to their advantage. We had taken out four of them in our initial surprise assault; it was obvious these last six were going to be more difficult. I was trying to locate the guy I had identified as the leader but had lost sight of him when the gunfire erupted. I noticed he had a long gun slung over his back, so I guessed not only was he the leader, but he was probably the sharpshooter of the bunch. We needed to locate him, but he had disappeared.

“Dimitri, you see the leader?” I asked.

“No, lost sight of him when the shooting started. Reggie, you got eyes on him?”

“Nope, he bolted for cover. Lost him in the rocks on your side of the canyon, Dimitri,” she replied.

“He’s probably their shooter, so stay sharp,” I added somewhat unnecessarily.

“Roger that,” Dimitri said and continued firing.

There was continuous gunfire from the team below; they were holding their own. The volume of gunfire had decreased as both sides worked at being more judicious about picking their targets with no real impact on either side. I realized this was going to be a protracted encounter. Without the element of surprise, we had lost our advantage, and the mercs training and experience was causing us to take a more defensive posture. The shift from offense to defense had happened quickly, and we were still outnumbered.

“Everyone, keep your heads down and make your shots count. These guys are well trained, and we don’t want to give them any easy targets.

When the gunfire started, Marco had bolted for cover and managed to work his way to the canyon wall undetected. There, he started his slow, methodical climb, looking for a high ground vantage point, all the time watching the firing coming from the rock pile. His experience had helped him visually locate the shooting positions from those on top. His men kept the shooters occupied as he slowly moved into place between two large rocks about forty feet up the canyon wall. He had spotted the sniper’s position that had killed Palo and the defector from the Brotherhood they had picked up. He was of no consequence, but Palo had been his number two and the closest thing he had to a friend. In his line of work, friendship was a luxury that could get you killed and one he could not afford.

He supported his Heckler & Koch MSG 90 A2 sniper rifle between the two rocks giving him cover. He flipped up the lens cover on the scope and began scanning the area where he thought Palo’s murderer was hidden and waited. As he waited, he wondered how Burnett’s team knew where to set their ambush and how they knew they were being followed. All his team’s actions had been carefully orchestrated, and those who knew of this mission were few. The Cardinal would have to hear about this when he returned. There may be a leak in his organization, but that was for later. Burnett’s group was proving to be more resourceful than he anticipated and better trained. Another breakdown in intelligence. So many things to be addressed, but for now, his focus was eliminating this threat and finding the library and its secrets of longevity. The Cardinal would be pleased with him and reward him well when he accomplished his mission. He smiled as he continued to scan the rock face.

Dimitri came over the Comms, “I’m moving my position to get a better shooting angle.”

A moment later, I heard a shot being fired and Reggie’s shaken voice, “Colt, Dimitri’s down;