Enemy mine
"Right, said the Colonel. Your mission is to neutralise the top man." "But sir, they would just replace him." "We know that. Never the less, it will send them a message. "What time sir." "Huh?" "Time at the drop zone." "Oh that. You will be dropped at twenty-two hundred hours." "That's a bit early," I queried. "We want you to be in position in good time, way before his midnight cigarette." "And my escape route after the kill?" "We will create a diversion in the opposite direction three seconds after midnight." I scratched my chin as I thought of my coming mission. "Any more questions?" "No sir," I replied. "Right," said the Colonel as he stood up and looked at his watch. "It is now twenty hundred hours, synchronise watches now," I said. "My exact thoughts," nodded the Colonel. I waited atop the hill for the enemy, my rifle pointing at the two-storey building below. A crescendo of noise reverberated in the jungle as the wildlife chatted to each other. "Don't they ever sleep? I thought. I looked at my watch. Three minutes before midnight. I settled into position, sat crossed-legged on the ground, the butt of my rifle in the croock of my right shoulder. My left hand held the heatproof plastic that surrounds the barrel and my right hand held the rifle just below the trigger guard. I looked at my watch. Thirty seconds before midnight. I looked through the telescopic sight and concentrated on slow, steady breathing. The door opened and a shadow drifted across the veranda. He stopped to light his cigarette and I started to apply pressure on the trigger. He turned his head. The glow of the cigarette lit his face and I saw his face in the full glare of the cigarette and of my night sight. I removed my finger from the trigger as cold beads of sweat erupted down my back. I saw the face of my enemy and the enemy was I. 24258210
|
