Finally

In the Prophet's (peace be upon him) time this journey would have taken weeks. But for me and my brothers the journey would take mere hours. But the dangers remain the same. Islam has always had many enemies. These days you can't even see your enemy coming.

We had a meeting with a sheikh in Ma'rib City. A courtesy visit and a chance to bring him the latest copy of Inspire. He would need a translator, if he even cared to read it.

--

It's a 40 mile drive from my house in a suburb of Santa Fe to the base. I work the night shift, eight hours from midnight to daybreak. The wife and kids don't mind. We would have just been sleeping anyway.

And even if it's dark here, halfway around the world, where I actually work, the sun is shining. Not a lot of places to hide. Point and click.

--

Along the way, we stopped for breakfast and to stretch our legs. Unlike some other places I have lived, here any house will welcome you in. Here we are all related. The poorest man can trace his blood even to dictators. But the dictator and his soldiers aren't very popular here.

While his wife prepared the meal, our host spoke of the growing rebellion in Sa'naa and truly across Yemen.

"Tens of thousands are in the street," he said. "The young men have stood up."

"And let's not forget the sisters also in the street," I reminded him. I heard his wife chuckle. "First the dictators must go and then their masters in America. Inshallah we will see it through to the end."

My hotter brothers started to speak of what they would do to Saleh and his family if they only had the chance. I hushed them as the man's wife brought in the food. Words must be clear and appropriate for each situation.

Rice and curried goat. This was my second breakfast of the day. A good start.

--

I sat down with my second breakfast of the night. The good thing about this post is that the usual rules are more slack. We can eat at our desks, if we get results. Some guys think too much and don't last long here. They never get coffee and donuts and are moved out. Me? I get results. So my CO doesn't mind that I'm not in top shape. Brains over brawn he always tells me.

I'm not interested in sweating my sack off in the desert thousands of miles from home. I'll take air conditioning, a big screen and watching the Super Bowl at the right time.

The CO came up to me as I finished the first donut and had a look at my file.

"Big day today corporal," he beamed. Beaming means someone's about to die; if he's grumpy it's just more surveillance. "The order's come down from the top. The VIP we've been tracking, Desert Dog. You've got the assignment. You up to it?"

"Sir, yes sir", I turned to my screens. You've still got to have some kind of chain of command, some kind of order. I wiped some chocolate sauce on my pants and got down to it.

--

We left the house after some hot tea. I thanked the man for his hospitality and complimented him on his wife's cooking. He had made our long journey all the more pleasant.

We had parked our vehicle away from his house some distance. For one thing, we needed the walk. Secondly vehicles have a tendency to spontaneously explode in this part of the world. One learns to look up, especially if one has a name. Our host knew mine, I'm sure. But he never let on.

--

"Got him," I reported. By now the whole room felt like it was crowding in around me. So much for air conditioning. "He's exited the building and is crossing the yard to the vehicles. Two others with him, bodyguard I suppose."

I switched to the drone screen and cast a glance to my left. Douglas had another drone in the air, backup in case something went wrong. Drones rarely fail but it's good to cover your bases. This target was clearly high profile. Not bin Laden high profile but someone clearly wanted to shut him up and evaporate all evidence that he had ever lived. We each have a file on our targets but honestly I don't need to know. What's the point? I don't decide who lives and dies.

"You are authorized to use deadly force corporal." I looked up to see the General staring at my screen. Big fish indeed.

Maybe I'll get a promotion for this one. With our mortgage and all the fees, heck even the price of gas, we could use the extra income.

Focus.

--

I got the rest of the day off. Not quite the promotion I was gunning for. Maybe a few more kills will do it.

I told my wife a very bad man had a very bad day. She doesn't really like what I do. But my job is to protect Americans. And I sleep soundly every single day.