24 Training
Two days later, at a remote site in the foothills south of Algiers CA, high-lifters with the OSG symbol blazoned on their sides set down and unloaded the SO team in a landscape of scrub and low trees. The officer in charge walked briskly over to where Pru and Bravo Force waited among the low bushes at the edge of the landing zone that had been marked, but not cleared. They, like the SO officer, wore combat fatigues.
The SO officer looked along Bravo Force’s file and stopped at Pru. He saluted, then held out his hand. “Captain Ishmael al-Khud,” he said.
Pru, caught by surprise, returned his salute, though hardly with military precision, then took his hand.
“Prudence Whiteside,” she replied.
The tall soldier chuckled. “General Khan told me you and your friends are not conventional forces.” His smile was genuine, his tone friendly, and he spoke in Arabic, but Pru sensed no depth to his apparent friendliness. The officer went on, “But, he did say you are well-trained and effective. I’ve listened to the recordings of your Wadi Felucca operation, and I agree.”
“We are not conventional, no,” Pru acknowledged, “but we do our best”. She introduced the rest of Bravo Force. Captain al-Khud nodded at Mira.
“You must be the scout I was told about. I’m pleased to meet you. Your reports are excellent.” Mira smiled at him, thanked him. Pru’s heightened senses caught sparks between them.
He turned back to Pru. “My orders are to operate alongside your force. I think we need to spend the next day or two learning how we can work together and get a look at the situation. We will have our base set up shortly. Can I expect to meet with you in about an hour?”
As he spoke, the men and women of his SO force were methodically unloading the high-lifters and beginning to set up camp among the few trees at the edge of the wide wadi.
.oOo.
Pru bent to look into the low campaign tent to which a soldier had directed her. Captain al-Khud rose as far as the roof permitted and gestured her to a seat. Pru settled in and said, “Captain, I have no rank, so call me Pru. In fact, I’m not a soldier at all.”
“So I understand, but it makes no difference. I’m confident of your ability – as far as it goes, if I may say so. By that, I only mean we all have limitations. And, you have the advantage of knowing the ground and the tactical situation. I’m satisfied we can work together. Call me Ishmael.”
Something about the man’s face tugged at Pru’s memory. “You’re General Khan’s…”
“He’s my grandfather, Pru. I’m proud to be a member of his family and to bear his name. And, if I’m not mistaken, you’re the woman who was involved in that fracas in The Yemen a while back.”
Pru threw up her hands. “Everywhere I go, all I hear about is The Yemen. Now everyone wants to make a soldier out of me.”
“Well, I don’t care what you do in your spare time, Pru. All I want here in Algeria is the benefit of what you and your Bravo Force know and can do.”
Pru thought ruefully about her ‘spare time’, but shook her head and began to discuss the situation with this youthful replica of General Khan. She sensed his earnestness and willingness, but was concerned by a sense of deep tradition, formality and military order that underlay it all.
Pru told Ishmael about her rudimentary plan for taking over the village and offering the women – and men – who wanted it, an opportunity for freedom. They discussed the medical issues briefly, agreeing to defer details until the medical team arrived.
Before long, they had agreed to carry out joint field exercises in the nearby hills to integrate her Bravo Force into his command. After a day or two of that, Mira was to go back to the village to continue observations, and when the operation was launched, inform some of the women there that help was on its way.
Pru told Ishmael, “I’m concerned about this being a daylight operation. At Wadi Felucca, we were under cover of darkness and had the advantage of night goggles. This will be a lot more like that other thing,” she grinned as she alluded to the Yemeni affair, “but there we were really just using surprise and bluff. Nobody there thought women could or would do that kind of thing.”
“I’m glad you recognize how different this is,” Ishmael said. We’ll have surprise on our side, I hope, but that’s not going to carry the day in itself. We’ll need to work fast and smart, and we’ll need some luck. I’m counting on your people to look after the women and children. I’ll have some of my women troopers work with you, but those children will need the assurance I hope you can give them.
“I’m really concerned about the pregnant women,” Pru said. “They’re frightened and fragile. And, who knows when one of them’ll go into labor? There are at least two who are close enough to term.”
“We can do some simulations with the med team when they get here,” he said. “I can see that time is of the essence.”
.oOo.
Pru and Captain al-Khud spent the rest of the day on simulations of their very different forces, attempting to work Bravo Force’s skills into the larger, more formal structure of the Special Ops team. They ran simulations of the planned attack and occupation of the mountain village, going over the ideas again and again. All the Bravo Force women took part.
At one point, Jazira took Pru aside and said, “I’m watching these sims, and I don’t see this working, Pru. They’ve got established procedures and they’re not flexible. They only want us to baby-sit the youngsters. If things don’t go the way they plan, I’m not sure we’ll be able to recover.”
Pru nodded. She had sensed al-Khud’s resistance to change and tendency to ignore the concepts Pru had tried to put forward. He wasn’t antagonistic, but he surely wasn’t taking the operation in the direction Pru felt was necessary to protect not just the women and children, but the men as well. She looked about the area and on a hunch replied, “Jazz, I want you to go find Alia and go talk to that trooper.” She pointed to a blocky trooper sitting on a rock, cleaning her equipment. “That’s the troop sergeant major. She’s a professional who’s probably been through these things a dozen times. You and Alia tell her what’s worrying you – let Alia speak her mind – and then tell me what she says.” Pru went back to the command tent and went through another frustrating simulation that just didn’t quite satisfy her need to protect the women and children without excessive bloodshed. Captain al-Khud, for all his apparent friendly cooperation, just wasn’t able to satisfy her.
Some time later, when Jazira and Alia returned, the sergeant major was with them. Alia looked almost her twin, their muscular bodies very similar in shape and stature. The trooper was smiling. “Sir,” she barked to the captain, “Sir, May I have a moment?” The Captain agreed, and Pru rose to leave.
Outside, Jazira leaned to murmur in Pru’s ear. “Don’t worry, Pru, she says Captain Ish is okay, and she’ll get him on your wavelength. Give her a couple of minutes.”
When Pru returned to the command tent, the sergeant major was not in sight, but somehow the simulations went better. Al-Khud seemed to be more receptive to her suggestions and they worked out an approach that satisfied Pru, as well as, it seemed, the Captain. Zahlman’s presence as case operator was accepted and his understanding of the terrain and the tactical situation was acknowledged.
Isabella and the sergeant major were lifted to the area of the village that evening and spent the next day making a thorough reconnaissance of the surroundings; something Pru had been demanding from the start. Isabella’s initial discovery of the village had not permitted a really good look around and Mira had needed to keep out of sight, as well.
At the base camp, the next three days were spent working on field exercises, as the teams split into groups of “villagers” and “attackers”. At the end, Bravo Force held a party, with Jazira and Zahlman bringing out a lift-truck full of tagine and lamb couscous.
The following day, the medical team arrived and much the same scenario of learning and unlearning was repeated, until finally, Captain al-Khud took the chief medical officer to one side for a chat. Again, the intervention bore fruit.
“The fact is,” Ishmael told Pru in the gathering dusk, “none of us saw the situation as a social issue. We were looking at it in military terms. You’ve made us see the difference. That’s important, and thank you.”
.oOo.
Mira sat at her accustomed position beneath the shrubbery at the edge of the village’s herb and vegetable garden. After a time, the two women appeared and began their work. Mira’s contact, Zaharah, moved slowly, clearly hampered by her advancing pregnancy. When, more than halfway across the field, Zaharah noticed Mira, she made a surreptitious, dismissing gesture. Without hesitation, Mira slipped away into the underbrush.
Somewhat later, Mira ventured back to the field after checking with Zahlman to be sure only the two women were nearby. Seated in her position near the herbs, she waited patiently. Eventually Zaharah returned to the herb garden. She was startled to see Mira.
“Why have you returned?” she asked.
“Peace be on you. I gave my word.”
“They were watching us before. They don’t trust me, but I try hard not to give trouble.”
“Are you well, sister?”
“Not well. I ache and I am always tired.” She waved dismissively. “I know it is the baby, but it is worse this time. And, I am hungry.”
“The fields do not yield enough?”
“No, and there is not enough meat. Hunting has been bad. There is not enough goat’s milk for the children because the men eat the goats.”
“Be patient, sister, for a day or two. How is the other pregnant woman?”
“I think she will deliver soon. She is also not well. Her husband is rough with her, even though she is very large.”
“Listen. One day, very soon, when you come here you will see only a piece of my robe. On the next morning, try to keep the women and children together and away from the men. When you say morning prayers, stay well to one side.”
Zaharah’s eyes widened briefly, but she nodded and went on about her work as Mira disappeared, blending into the shrubs and rocks.