VANGUARD(19)

“He’s probably using the name Mikael Nariovsky. This is a computer-generated image of what he may look like today.” A stranger looked down at them. Michael’s curls were shorn, and the artist had taken thirty or forty pounds off him. “The US government would prefer if Dr. Nariovsky-Trent could be removed from Orlisia as quietly as possible.

“If you encounter this person, do not draw attention. Detain him. Pretend you’ve got a paperwork problem, ask for his help, pull him aside to chat, whatever. Use the walkie to report in. Code word is Vanguard. Remember that our walkie signals will be monitored, so try to be imaginative. Screaming that you’ve found Vanguard is not imaginative.” Everyone chuckled.

Sophie steeled herself for what she had to say next. “This is a secondary mission consideration. Our primary job is to get this refugee camp functioning. We all know there are upward of one hundred thousand people in the camp. Vanguard is just one. Use your judgment. Questions?”

There were a few relating to protocols and scheduling. When they petered out, people started preparing to leave. “One more thing,” Sophie called, and the rustling stilled. “I’d like the Rev to bless the mission. For those of the non-Christian persuasion, substitute the deity of your choice. For the atheists in the crowd – and you all know that includes me – just bow your heads and look serious.”

The Rev took the floor in astounded silence. Everyone knew Sophie vehemently opposed religious involvement in international development and was a proud, self-proclaimed atheist, so this was a surprising – and unifying – move on her part.

“Thanks, Sophie.” The Rev raised his hands. “Lord, we ask for your blessing upon us as we prepare for this important mission of mercy. Help us to do your work. We pray for…” Dave continued, but Sophie had stopped listening. After all she’d seen in the field over the years, she no longer believed that there was a higher power who paid attention to anything going on in the world. But this time, she wasn’t hedging any bets. She’d take any help she could get, including that of a deity she didn’t believe existed.

Please. I’ll give you anything, just please let him be alive. Let me be in time.

“We ask especially for your blessing upon Sophie, our courageous leader in this mission. Give her strength as she leads us in saving your people in Orlisia. Keep her and everyone else in the coalition safe as we carry out your work. Amen.” There was a murmured response from the group, then silence.

“Everyone at the designated meeting area at JFK by 2 p.m. tomorrow. Flight leaves at 7 p.m. Sleep well, and we’ll see you tomorrow.”





Chapter 4





January 25, 2014





Will watched Anjali ease herself out from under Sophie’s sleeping body and walk down the aisle to him. Sophie had curled up against his wife as soon as the plane had taken off, and Anjali held her until her friend had fallen fully asleep. One of the big airlines had donated a flight to the coalition, so the strike team had the plane to themselves. Most were taking advantage of the extra space by stretching out to sleep.

“Asleep.” Anjali sat down in Will’s lap and put her arms around his waist. She pulled his shirt out of his pants and slid her hand up his back. He moved his face to kiss her. Anjali always got this way when they went on a mission together. Will had never imagined that marrying a field doctor would lead to so much amazing sex on airplanes.

Anjali Shah had entered his life just after Sophie had moved to New York to join him in starting Refugee Crisis International. Their first task had been to recruit an executive team, including a medical director.

Anjali had come from Médecins Sans Frontières with a remarkable amount of experience in the field for someone in her thirties. The little Indian doctor was five feet and two inches of pure hellfire, working under horrific conditions without complaint. Will had once seen her help dig a burial trench by hand in 115 degree heat during a cholera epidemic. Men twice her height and three times her weight did her bidding without question.

Of course, he’d fallen in love with her. In addition to being an excellent field doctor, Anjali was beautiful with her long black hair, brown skin, and slender figure. To this day, he lost his mind every time she fluttered her wide brown eyes at him. They’d married two years after their first trip to the field together, a violent and dramatic mission to India that had nearly cost them both their lives.

He rubbed Anjali’s back tenderly. He couldn’t imagine a day on this earth without her. He hated flying into a warzone with her, hated having her in harm’s way. When Will tried to imagine how Sophie felt – knowing the man she loved was missing and quite possibly dead – his brain went on overload. He couldn’t wrap his head around it.