Looking towards Hector Wilhelm nodded. “Noted, it is good if somebody has experience with the operation material. Those areas are certainly on the list to check out.”

Bakker surveyed the squad, and finding no more questions forthcoming he nodded and clapped his hands together. “Excellent!” he said. Of course they clearly didn’t share his feigned enthusiasm. He took a moment’s look at Coghan that was in fact a little more than a moment. Wilhelm looked at Mr. Gill with a raised eyebrow, and then gave Coghan another glance before assembling his papers. He would need to have a chat with Gill about his project, maybe show the woman exactly who owned  her in the field, and how easily that ownership could be demonstrated. In truth none of these operators were trustworthy yet, they were all suspicious strangers even if he had to play big friend to them all. However, As if these thoughts hadn’t crossed him, Brick smiled. “As I said previously, I expect everyone at the Geneva airport at five in the afternoon. Please be on time, there will be people holding up signs with your initials directing you to your flight, they’ll hand over all we’ll need. Now, have some rest… Good day!”

With that, the meeting was over.

[hr]

The operators had to be at the airport by five, and the deadline was fairly tight; the private flight left at five-fifteen. They stopped in Algiers where Bakker enlisted the aid of the Arabic and French speaking operators to buy a few things, namely the pile of drones they would use to survey the desert unpacked, labelled, and stuffed into some luggages. There was about an hour wait until they took economy class seats on a flight to Tamanrasset, where they were greeted by a man holding up a sign on which was written “Farfour Ahmadi”. The Field Manager directed the squad to follow this man, who spread them across three cars. Bakker drove at the front, and would take a few randomized stops making sure the group wasn’t followed while also using the time to look for foodstuffs, tools, phones, batteries, maps, and a few other things they might need by chance. 

The final stop would be the seventh after which they would walk a few blocks, and then down an alley coming out the other side and into a garage. The two Nimrs were there, and the group would rest until past midnight getting some time to change into their uniforms as well as apply the various elements of their disguises that would help them fit in with the locals. Stepping out Bakker looked side to side to make sure nobody was on the street, and then motioned for the vehicles to move out. At the front would be Brick in the driver seat, with Hades beside him dressed as the “Commanding Officer”, while behind them were Gorgon and Cronus. Driving the rear car would be Mr. Gill, with Hypnos beside him as the other Officer and behind them were seated Hector and Hypatia. They would go on the trans-Saharan highway with the lights of their cars off, driving as slow as the limit allowed until there wasn’t any traffic ahead of or behind them. As a joke the Royal Marine flicked the turn signal, and then turned on to the desert where he simply drove on as fast as the vehicle allowed him with the aim of getting deep in the desert so they could finally start looking for the bedouins. But only ten minutes into the drive Bakker deeply regretted the momentary - but nevertheless extreme - unprofessionalism. It was hard to see in the dark, but looking in rearview mirrors across dunes there was definitely movement. In the darkness and across such a landscape it was hard to get perspective, and hence it could have been a person, a car, or a lost animal. Picking up his transceiver he spoke to the rest of the squad, even if chances were other operators had noticed the movement before he did. “Heads-up, something’s behind us. I can’t make sense of what it is, we’re not going to turn to face it yet; if its OPFOR we’ll let them think they’re a step ahead of us when they’re not, save some time.”

The Dutchman wasn’t sure if this was the best idea now, but he wanted to get really deep in the desert first so they could spread out the civilian drones, and then they could deal with whatever was behind them. Taking off his active headset Bakker wiped his brow. It was cold, very cold in fact and yet he couldn’t help but get some sweat. They would cross the tallest dune in sight, and then descend a little past it. Parking, Bakker would give the order for them to disembark with their guns ready and vests on. “If it’s something following us they’ll come right over into our loving embrace. After a moment of thought he went back to the Nimr and removed a few of the drones from it along with their remotes. Sitting down and trying to get the first started, Bakker spoke up rather quietly even if it would come much louder to those in the team with their headsets on. 

“Hypatia, climb up the dune, see if you can catch a glimpse of what that movement was. Be careful of course, don’t get hit first. Now then. We can go two ways from here. Either we head right West following after she’s done seeing whatever it was we saw, take a little gamble. If we find the boy there we’ll have a much easier and quicker time heading towards Morocco and our extraction. If we don’t find him here though, we’ll have to circle back and check the East side of the Algerian Sahara. After finding our guy the extract will be a little harder but that’s the price you pay for a gamble that doesn’t pay off. Alternatively we head East first, maybe start with Ahaggar as Hector suggested. What do you think?” he asked of the squad, getting his drone flying. He didn’t send it high, rather keeping it as low as possible for now to give it some distance in hopes it wouldn’t be noticed as having come from over here to whatever onlookers there may be.