They Walk Among Us Ch. 04

"We know that when he travels, Valenta usually has two body guards and a female companion. We don't want to let the Serbs know that we have him, so it's imperative that the guards and the companion are eliminated and the bodies hidden," Johansson said.

"Not a problem, but what about the people who own the house?" Adam added.

"We believe she may be one of Valenta's contacts. If the opportunity presents itself, bring her in also. If it appears she will cause a problem with your exit, eliminate her along with the others. Remember your primary objectives are to get in, secure Valenta, and get out with no traces," Johansson informed Dawson.

"If there are no other questions, Bravo squad you are due on the loading area in one hour. Dismissed," Lieutenant Commander Neal Hawkins told his fire teams.

The briefing broke up and Bravo squad headed for the equipment room to gear up. Alpha on the other hand had to wait for a while, so Dawson took them into a secure room to go over the planning of the prisoner snatch.

"All right people lets go over the town. It will be real early in the morning so we shouldn't encounter any civilians going in. Once we get to the house I want Kevin and Doc to provide outside security. Bob, you take V-man in the front door and me and Carl will enter through the back. Once we have the package secured, we all exit the back together. Kevin I want you to lead us through this area here, then to the extract site," Dawson told his team.

"On the way out I want Bob and Carl as package security, V-man you take rear cover. We go in quick and silent so leave the big stuff behind and take the Glocks and the H&K's.

One of the Seals favorite assault weapons was the Heckler & Koch MP5SD-N. A silenced lightweight submachine gun that's capable of selecting one, two, or three round bursts. The teams rarely used the full auto function because at 700 rounds a minute you went through your ammo pretty quick. The sweet feature of the 'N' series is why the Seals commonly used them. Even if the barrel was full of water, you could still fire the weapon effectively.

"Alright everyone, we practice this type of op all the time, so you all know what to do. Are there any questions?" Adam asked.

"Just one L-Tee, what are my orders regarding the package if he becomes uncooperative?" Carl asked.

"If we have both packages and the girl gives you a problem, take her out. If it's just Valenta, well, the CIA guy said alive – he didn't say anything about hurt. Use your imagination," Adam told him with a big smile.

2330 hrs, 31,000 feet on board an Air Force C-130 Hercules.

Bravo squad did a final check on each others gear and stood by the rear hatch and waited. They were two minutes from the exit point which was still ten miles from the LZ that they intended to land in. Once clear of the aircraft they would fly their bodies the rest of the way in. Pete Newman pushed the button on his throat and addressed his team.

"Remember people we go in without NVG's so everyone stay close and then separate at four thousand feet and we all pull at fifteen hundred," he told his team.

The crew chief opened the rear hatch and the rush of cold air hit the team like a brick. The outside air temperature was only twenty degrees and would seem even colder as they fell down to earth.

"Bravo squad, put your game face on, it's time to earn your 75 dollar hazardous duty pay," Andy Stall called out.

He couldn't see their smiles underneath the oxygen masks as the entire team gave him a thumbs up, then the green light came on signaling the team to depart. In an instant, their black covered bodies disappeared into the night sky on their way to Predjama Slovenia. The rear hatch just started closing as the large C-130 turned sharply and headed towards Germany so as not to draw attention from any Serbian radar.

Peter Newman felt the wind whipping at his insulated jump suit as he checked his altimeter. He could see Griffin, and Stall to either side of him as they descended through 25,000 feet. They had only left the plane about 48 seconds before. When he looked back down, he could just make out the lights of the city through the sparse cloud cover they were currently passing through.

He knew if people were still awake, or out taking a walk they would never see them due to the dark clothes and black chutes. They would have to have very keen eye sight and since it only took three and half minutes to reach the desired altitude, their odds were about zero. He checked his altimeter again and saw they were at four thousand feet and the team began to spread out.

They were just outside the clearing when everyone in Bravo squad pulled their chutes and began to safely float the rest of the way down. Once they landed near the edge of the clearing, Bravo squad quickly hid their excess gear and turned on their NVG goggles.

"Ok Griff, get us to the edge of the cliff," Pete said quietly to his point man.

Bravo squad followed him as he disappeared into the woods. Each member was sweeping left and right, keeping a watchful eye out for danger. Even though this wasn't supposed to be a hostile area, you could never tell what you were going to run into.

**********

Most of Alpha squad were relaxing or playing solitaire, except for Kevin Dvorska who had his face buried in the topographical map of the area. He would switch from photos and then back to the map studying every detail and possible alternate routes. Adam Dawson put the blueprints of the houses down and walked over to Bob Holiday.

"Keep them loose Bob, I'm heading down to Com to find out Pete's status," he said.

"If they get any looser Adam, those guys are going to turn into Silly Putty," Bob told him with a laugh.

Adam slapped him in the back of the head and left the room. The Communications room was located one floor down and the only way to get there was the elevator. When he stepped inside he inserted his identification badge into the only slot on the panel. There were no buttons because it only went to one location.

Once the small doors opened, he saw the two Marine sentries that guarded the entrance. Once they checked his ID against the access list, he was allowed to pass. Pushing his thumb on the fingerprint pad, the door cracked open and he entered the darkened room.

On the far wall were three extremely large screens. The displays on each would have confused any normal person but to Adam it was just a run of the mill display. They consisted of satellite orbits, radio frequencies, topographical images and radar showing anything that was flying in the area and their call sign. He walked up to Lieutenant Commander Hawkins and stood next to him, never taking his eyes off the screen.

"How's it going so far Neal?" Adam asked.

"Just like clockwork Adam, last radio call put Bravo in route to the cliff. With any luck you guys should be out of here soon," he told the Seal.

"They have to find the guy first. You know how much I don't trust those spooks from the agency. My God damn luck, we go in there and discover Elvis is alive and he's living in Predjama," Adam said sarcastically.

"If that's true, just think how many women in the world you're going to make happy. You'll be the Seal team that rescued the king," Hawkins replied.

**********

Frank Griffin had Bravo squad about a hundred yards from the cliff when he got down on one knee quickly. When the rest of the team saw this, they followed suit and searched their assigned areas. Peter Newman gave his point man some time to figure out what the problem was. It was as if he was listening to something but couldn't make it out. The team leader quickly signaled for Andy Stall to check it out.

Andy moved cautiously up to where Griff was and looked around. Even with the added benefit of the night vision gear he still couldn't see any trouble or what had spooked Frank Griffin.

"What seems to be the hold up Griff?" he asked.

"I don't know Andy. All of a sudden I got a weird feeling like we're being watched," Frank told him.

"Ok I believe you but Intel has this area clear. Just to be on the safe side take it slow and go weapons free," Andy told him as he took the safety off his own MP5.

Griff headed off and within a few seconds the team was hot on his heels on their way to the cliff edge. When Pete got up next to his Team Chief he paused a moment.

"What the hell was that about Andy?" Pete asked.

"He thinks someone might be watching us. I suggest we go weapons free boss just to be safe. Griff isn't the type to get spooked easily," he said.

Lieutenant Junior Grade Peter Newman pushed the mike button on his throat so the team could hear him.

"Bravo listen up, we're about a hundred yards away for point alpha. Go weapons free and keep an eye out, we might have company shadowing us," he told his team.

Peter Newman, Jim Jenkins and Rick Berkley took there safety's off. As an added precaution Berkley switched from his MP5 to the M14 sniper rifle he was carrying. When he turned on his starlight scope he brought the weapon to his shoulder and peered through the eye piece, the small forest came to life in a soft glow. After scanning the area, he lowered the rifle and continued on with the others.

They arrived at the edge of the cliff overlooking Predjama castle and the rest of the town. Griffin still had that funny feeling as he scanned the area.

"Griffin, Jenkins – perimeter security. Berkley, hop on the starlight and find me the package," Pete Newman ordered.

"Andy get on the horn to base and update our sitrep," he told his mentor and then scanned the town with his teams sharpshooter.

Senior Chief Andrew Stall pulled the handset out and tuned in the frequency for the communications center. As the teams radio operator it was his responsibility to call in any updates for the situation report. It was always wise to let home base in on the current information.

"Eagle base, Eagle base – this is sparrow," Andy said quietly.

"Sparrow this is Eagle base – go," they answered.

"Bravo at the five yard line, looking for the ball," he said.

"Roger sparrow, looking for the ball. Be advised place kicker is standing by for the touchdown," the comm. center answered back.

**********

The large black beast could smell the five Navy Seals not far away. His heightened sense of hearing allowed him to listen in on the radio chatter along with their conversations. He had to be careful about his approach. Even though the weapons they carried would not kill him, he still needed to make sure that he did it quickly and silently. The fact that one of them knew something was wrong, only ensured that he was the one he had searched for. He was about to have his revenge.

One thing the werewolf thought was strange is that he could not sense the presence of the other werewolf. He knew they would send the best they had so it stood to reason that Dvorska could mask his scent from other beasts. That didn't matter to him. He would kill Kevin Dvorska and take the officer back with him for interrogation. He was looking forward to finding out how long it would take to break a U.S. Navy Seal.

**********

"Berkley, you got anything through the starlight scope?" Pete asked.

"That's a negative boss. Lights are on but I've only seen a female walk by a window," he replied.

"All right keep looking for the package. If we don't have a visual in thirty minutes we call back for instructions," the team leader told them.

Frank Griffin watched the forest for anything unusual. Just then a small breeze kicked up and at first he thought he was imagining it but it sort of smelled like an animal or something. It might just be a deer out for a nightly stroll. Just as he was about to look away something caught his attention, two brightly glowing golden eyes.

"What the..." he started to say but couldn't finish it.

The black beast slammed his body into Bravo's point man, as he collided with him his back claw rested on Griffin's stomach. When the werewolf launched itself at his next victim, Frank Griffin's lower torso was ripped opened. As he screamed out in pain, the rest of Bravo squad turned to see a large black beast with incredible speed flying towards Rick Berkley.

The sharpshooter had not time to roll away as the beast sunk its oversized teeth into his throat and pulled back. When this happened, Berkley's head rolled to one side and only stay attached by a small piece of muscle.

The movements of the wolf were so fast that Peter Newman only had time to swing his MP5 in the direction of the attack. The monstrous animal hit him and slammed his head against the tree he was near. As he was going down, his finger instinctively squeezed the trigger and released three 9mm rounds into the dirt.

Andy Stall had the handset out and pushed the mike button. What ever this thing was they needed backup – now. With one hand on radio and the other on his carbine he squeezed both at the same time. As the report of the weapon rang out into the night, four 7.62mm traveled at supersonic speed three feet before impacting the wolf's shoulder. The wolf's howl and his own scream was the last thing he heard as the razor sharp claws tore his face apart.

Jim Jenkins saw that the rounds had no effect on the wolf's body. He jumped up and grabbed the tree branch that was above his head. Just as he swung his legs up, he felt the three inch canine teeth sink into the side of his body. When the black animal threw him roughly to the ground, his spin snapped with a loud pop.

The team's medic tried to move his arms and legs but they would not move with his command. When the werewolf stood over his paralyzed body, he snarled and allowed his thick drool to drop down on the human's chest. Jim Jenkins could only scream as the blade-like claws tore his body open from his crotch to his throat.

**********

"My God damn luck, we go in there and discover Elvis is alive and he's living in Predjama," Adam said sarcastically.

"If that's true, just think how many women in the world you're going to make happy. You'll be the Seal team that rescued the king," Hawkins replied.

"You know what I mean Neal. If Pete can't find this guy there, then that means whoever they have in Predjama is a real bitch. I'm pretty tired of the wild goose chases and..." Adam Dawson said but stopped when he heard the shots and screams ring out over the loud speakers.

The static was still on the air so Adam knew that the button was being held in by Andy Stall. Seconds later he heard someone else scream out loudly in pain and what sounded like something growling.

"Sparrow this is Eagle base – come in."

The radio operator waited for the reply as Neal Hawkins ran up to the console.

"Try them again damn it," he said sternly.

"Sparrow this is Eagle base. What is your current status?" he said as he adjusted the sensitivity of the gear.

"Sparrow – come in, this is Eagle base."

Suddenly a loud squeal echoed through the communications room as Bravo squad's radio was destroyed.

Lieutenant Commander Neal Hawkins spun around quickly and starred at Alpha squad's team leader.

"Adam, get your fire team out to the flight line and get me my Seal team back – now," Hawkins said and then picked up the phone to call the duty officer.

**********

The black werewolf lifted its paw off the now smashed radio and turned around to look at the carnage around him. In an instant, the change occurred and he was once again dressed in black. The only difference now was his once pristine uniform was torn and ragged. When he moved over to his first victim he knelt down and stared at him.

He searched the body for any identification and found nothing. He wondered why Dvorska hadn't changed and protected his team. Only one thing made sense, this was not the Seal team he was looking for. That means the Americans will send another team to search for their missing comrades. Since they would be in danger they will probably have air support following them. The only smart decision was to take his hostage somewhere and get the needed information.

He walked over to the unconscious team leader and threw him over his uninjured shoulder. As he walked quickly back into the forest he turned his head slightly and spoke to the Seal.

"I do hope you enjoy pain American. I need information and you will provide it to me – one way or the other," he said as he disappeared into the darkness.

Fire team Alpha was startled when Adam Dawson threw the door open. When Bob Holiday looked into his Lieutenant's eyes, he could see that he was extremely troubled.

"Adam what is it?" he asked.

"Listen up team. Bravo got hit a few moments ago so we have a new mission. Leave the silenced stuff here and grab the M4 carbines. Carl I want you on the M60 machine gun and Doc you better pack another med kit. V-man, bring the 50 cal sniper rifle and make sure you got a thermal scope with it. Everyone pay attention because we're going to make it up as we go. You got ten minutes to get it done and then we're on the C-130 – go," Adam told his team.

Alpha squad bolted out of the door to get the gear. As Kevin passed the team leader, he grabbed his arm and held him back.

"Dvorska, this isn't some training exercise in North Carolina, this is real. That's our friends out there and I need your A-game," Adam told him.

"You got it boss. You and the rest of the team stay on my ass, I'll be moving quickly."

Adam let the 23 year old go and followed them to get his gear. From the sounds on the radio it sounded like no one was left but if they were all dead, he had no intentions of leaving them out there. He had never left a fallen Seal behind and he wasn't about to start now.

0300 hrs, small clearing just south of Predjama Slovenia.

Fire team Alpha went weapons free the moment they hit the ground and scanned the area. When Kevin sensed there was no danger he pushed his mike button and reminded his teammates to stay on his tail. Kevin knew the location that Bravo would have selected to cover their originally planned exit but to get there would be a hike. They couldn't risk using Bravo's insertion LZ incase someone was watching, so they inserted in another area that was two miles away.

Kevin moved as quickly as he could without drawing attention to the team's movement. When they finally reached the small trail that snaked around the cliff, Kevin signaled for the fire team to stop. When he knelt down he saw footprints leading out of the trail and back into town. Adam moved towards his point man to see what the hold up was.

"We don't have time to smell the roses Kev, what's wrong?" he asked.

"These are fresh prints boss, someone has come through here not too long ago," Kevin whispered.

"Are you sure?"

"They can't be over three hours old. I'm sure of it," Kevin told him as he looked up the trail.

"Ok stay alert and get us up there," Adam Dawson said.

One by one they went up the trail until it split and that's where V-man headed off to a higher position above the cliff. If they ran into trouble he could cover the area effectively and take out any opposition. About 45 minutes later Kevin stopped and peered down the path, he was not happy about the smell in the area.

"Kev what's up?" Adam asked.

"I don't think we're going to be happy about the outcome L-tee. Something doesn't smell right," Kevin whispered.

Adam pushed his mike button and addressed his fire team.

"V-man you see anything on the thermal?" he asked his sharpshooter.

"Negative boss. The only heat signatures in the area are yours,"

"Copy that. Bob take the left side about fifty yards out, Doc you take right. Carl give me a loose trail, if anything happens get that big fucker up here – move," Adam told them.

"Kev you got front left, I'll take front right. Let's get this done," he told his point man.