"Mr. Han."
Rabbani finally raised his hand in greeting.
Song Heping breathed a sigh of relief internally, returning the gesture, "Mr. Rabbani."
"Long ti no see!"
Rabbani opened his arms wide like an old friend not seen for years.
"Such good acting."
Song Heping muttered internally, also squeezing out a smile and embracing him.
When the two hugged, Song Heping heard Rabbani whisper into his ear in English, "Despicable."
Song Heping was taken aback for a mont, then quickly realized he was referring to the ISA taking his uncle's family.
But this was not the ti to argue.
Indeed.
From a moral standpoint, it was indeed despicable to kidnap soone's family and use them as leverage.
But it depends on the context.
If you look at it from the perspective of black ops, this was damn normal!
Not to ntion kidnapping your family, in the eyes of the black ops departnt, they could kill a target's family mbers one by one in front of them until the target complied.
In this underground world, morality isn't worth a di.
The group returned to the sa house and once again sat down on the huge carpet.
After the woman served the tea, Rabbani asked the village leader and the others to leave, saying he wanted to let the guests rest early.
Once everyone was gone, the smile on Rabbani's face disappeared, replaced by a fierce expression.
"If a single hair is missing from my uncle's family, I'll personally chop off your heads!"
His tone was unfriendly, and Song Heping could hear the grinding of his teeth even from over a ter away.
"You should think about your own escape route first."
Song Heping didn't like being threatened.
Especially this kind of feeble threat.
If before the eting he had been sowhat worried that this Revolutionary Brigade local ard group leader would suddenly turn on him and take him hostage, now he had completely let down his guard.
If a dog truly intends to bite, it will pounce when you co near, not wait until you've petted its head and led it to a secluded spot before making its move.
"If Azhar finds out that you've betrayed him, do you think you and your uncle's family would still live?"
Song Heping deliberately broached Rabbani's greatest fear.
Sure enough, the other party imdiately softened.
"When the ti cos, I'll withdraw with you. Adrian will be in Helmand Province in three days, at which point Azhar will inform to take you to et him. I need to know what you will do then?"
Rabbani's tone was full of worry.
He had good reason to be concerned.
Because even he couldn't figure out what the Aricans were really up to.
Sending two people over and then using laser-guided bombs to precisely level the factory based on their location?
Or will these two personally do the job, directly assassinating Azhar and Adrian?
But how could they possibly escape unscathed?
After ISA contacted him, Rabbani had wracked his brain but couldn't think of a way to extricate himself.
In the end, he could only negotiate conditions with Niki—if he cooperated, then Niki would arrange for his uncle and his family to go to a third country and leave Afghan life behind.
In his view, he was done for, a dead man walking.
At worst, he could exchange his life for the safety of his uncle's family as a way to repay the nurturing he'd received.
"You don't need to worry about how we'll operate, just follow my orders," Song Heping said assertively. "Follow , and you might see a way out. Also, for the next few days, behave yourself and don't think about any tricks. I want to stay alive just as much as you do. If you still want to leave Afghan alive and live sowhere else, then obey all my commands. We have no grudges, I'm here to fulfill my mission, and you for your family's safety; our goals don't conflict, understand?"
"Understood..."
Rabbani was persuaded by Song Heping.
The next morning, Song Heping woke up early.
When sleeping in a strange place, he never overslept.
After getting up and freshening up, Song Heping decided to go out and walk around the village.
Song Heping couldn't predict what the situation would be in three days, so instead of trying to forecast, he chose to relax a little.
Everything had already been planned, and to avoid exposure, even though he had a satellite phone, he wouldn't contact Avanti or Niki.
All electronic devices had to be kept clear of any unusual traces, as no one knew if they would be searched when going to the opium factory three days later.
He wouldn't create unnecessary trouble for himself.
The most troubleso issue was the targeting.
Guiding aerial attacks required a target location, and this ant carrying electronic devices inside.
Such as laser designation or transmitting coordinates for guidance.
Before departure, Niki and the ISA action team mbers discussed this problem repeatedly.
If Rabbani took Song Heping to et Azhar in three days, then their guard would definitely frisk Song Heping.
All the ard organizations here in Afghan were now sharper than ghosts.
They knew how to deal with the Aricans with the superior military equipnt.
All electronic items were considered highly sensitive and absolutely not allowed to enter sensitive areas.
The US Army hadn't been able to catch Laden to date, reportedly because Laden never used any electronic products capable of connecting to the net.
Even if he wanted to make a statent, he would record it with a camcorder in advance, and then a ssenger would take the recording out and deliver it to soone else to publish on his behalf.
This almost primitive behavior pattern also provided an epiphany to all the leaders of the ard organizations here: to live long and avoid detection by the Aricans, they must not let electronic and networked items co within a kiloter of them.
User Comments
0 comments from readers