Chapter One
Operation Perth, Oruzgan Province, Afghanistan, July 2006
“RPG!”
“I see it.” Laughlin “Lachie” McDonald slammed off the ground, hands over his head, his mouth open to avoid his lungs liquefying from the percussion blast. Nine freaking days they had been on this search and destroy operation as part of a wider multi-national coalition objective to clear the Chora Valley, twenty-five miles north-east of Tarin Kowt. And still, heavy fighting with Taliban insurgents continued.
Despite meeting stiff resistance from several hundred insurgents, Lachie had worked his ass off to keep communications open during the intense combat as he and his fellow commandos fought their way through the valley, clearing it in a series of synchronized and closely coordinated operations.
Heavy RPG, mortar, and machine gun fire had his platoon pinned down, and somehow, they needed to fight their way across the valley in order for him to arrange their extraction. They would freaking do it! There was no other alternative. He had to get to high ground to get a damn signal.
“Assholes.” Lachie shook the flying dust and pulverized rock out of his hair and called out to Johnno. “On my mark.”
“Roger that. Move your ass, love.”
Despite the seriousness of their situation, Lachie couldn’t help the smile that pulled up the corner of his lips when Johnno called him love. Gah, their relationship was a secret, but this man mattered—more than he ever wanted to admit. Lachie was already facing a court martial for punching the asshole officer who had an affair with his wife. Gah, one fractious divorce later, He lost everything, the house, his bank account, even his damn dog. Here he was in Afghanistan, dodging RPG’s and bullets, with a man who made him feel a hell of a lot more than he should. It was only a matter of time until his papers and marching orders were in the post.
All around them the smell of spent munitions filled their air, burning the back of their noses with every breath. Repeated RPG volleys from the Taliban had so far resulted in the death of one soldier and the wounding of thirteen others, including six Australians. Six of their own. A fierce surge of pride in his team, the men he claimed as brothers, gave Lachie the boost he needed to move, zigzagging across the open ground to get to the next piece of cover. Despite losing a third of their strength, his teammates continued to provide cover fire for them to hopefully make that building. It was so freaking close. Lachie just needed to get on the fucking roof. Bullets spat up dust along their path as they moved. “Where the fuck is that coming from?”
“That’s behind us,” Johnno yelled back, to be heard over the sound of the guns raining down hell on their position. “That’s cover fire.”
“Assholes can’t tell we’re on their side?” Lachie knew Johnno probably didn’t hear him over the noise of the battle and the constant radio chatter in his ear.
“Romeo One Two, Doom Zero One, can you move at this time, over?”
“Who’s he talking to?” Johnno dove in behind the half-shattered wall of what looked to have been an animal building.
“One Two.” Lachie peered down the sight of his HK MP5 submachine gun, lined up a target, and took the shot. One Two was their Lieutenant Colonel. The man who had ordered him and Johnno to find them a way to get an outgoing line working. It pissed him off that his main radio had taken a bullet and was about as useful as a chocolate teapot. Meaning they had to use the backup with a shorter range. “I would sell my gran for the coms shit the US are using.” Yeah, being able to communicate from a mouthpiece instead of a two-way radio and an earpiece would be pretty fucking fabulous right about now.
“Preach.” Johnno nudged him with his boot. “Go that way.” He gestured for Lachie to scoot his ass down the slope, behind the roofless shed into the wadi. From there, hopefully they could sneak closer to the roof they needed.
Whose stupid idea was it to go right into the middle of this swarm of insurgents to climb a damn house, just in case we can boost our signal?Lachie crawled on his hands and knees. Even through his knee pads, he could feel the shale rock digging into his skin. Oh yeah, that’s right, mine. “Idiot, I’m a fucking idiot.”
“Nah, love.” Johnno was so close, Lachie more felt the words than heard them, “We are chasing medals for over the mantel-piece here.”
“Asshole.” Medals were the last thing either of them were chasing. Nope, much more important was making that hut and the rooftop, which would give them an opportunity to reestablish their communications link with the long-range patrol vehicles providing them support with Javelin anti-armor missiles and machine-guns. Bonus would be if they could also have two-way convos with the three US AC-130 Spectre gunships supporting the Australians as they made their push forward across the valley floor.
“Sure, sure.”
They made it unseen to about the area where Lachie had pinpointed. They would need to climb out of the wadi.
Here goes fucking nothing.Lachie reached inside the vee at his neck and tugged out the chain. He kissed the medal that hung next to his dog tags, then signaled to Johnno that he was ready. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Johnno doing the same. Their teammates may think the medals came from their mothers. In reality, it was a way to say ‘I love you’, without having the rest of their idiot brothers with their noses in their business, as they tried to figure out how to make a relationship work while serving in a war zone. They crawled to the top and poked their heads over, trying not to get them blown off the process. “Move.”
Firing their weapons, he was sure they took out at least three tangos on the twelve-foot distance to the door. Lachie hit the sun-beaten timber with his shoulder at full blast. It splintered under his weight. He barely managed to keep on his feet. He quickly scanned the room, ensuring it was empty before he bolted for the stairs. He really freaking hoped there was a way to the roof from the inside. Pushing open the door at the top of the stairs, Lachie grabbed for the door frame to stop himself falling.Should have looked up when you were on the ground floor, dummy.There was no fucking floor. “Argh, no floor.”
“Fuuck.” Johnno barely avoided smashing into him, falling to the ground floor would have sucked. “Outside fast.”
Their boots pounded down the stairs, and after dispatching another couple of tangos, Johnno cupped his hands to boost Lachie up. “Up ya go.”
Lachie landed on his belly on the roof, the tin roof so hot, it scorched his palms through his gloves. “Thank fuck.” A quick look revealed nobody up here, but also warned an unstable roof was probably the reason for that. Reaching down with his arm, he grabbed Johnno’s upraised one and hauled him up next to him. Taking the split-second opportunity their close positions allowed, he smacked a swift kiss on Johnno’s mouth.
“Get to work.” Johnno had his MP5 already in a firing position by the time he had finished speaking.
Lachie shrugged off his pack and dug through it for his back-up communications device. Hopefully with this, they could boost the signal and pass messages between his team and the US teams supporting them. “Gotcha.” Pulling out the box, Lachie got to work.
“Doom Zero One, Romeo Zero Three,” Lachie called out for the team in the air.
“Roger, Romeo Zero Three,”the US coms guy responded immediately,“what’s your status, over?”
