PROJECT SPARTA

CHAPTER 1

Loi Kolay Village, Kunar Providence

Korengal Valley, Afghanistan

2016

Xander Whitt adjusted the focus on his sniper scope and scanned the road leading to the small Afghani village 150 yards away. He settled the crosshairs on a billowing sand cloud in the distance. A caravan of Jeeps emerged from the cloud and sped toward the village.

"There they are..." Xander noted, eye to scope.

The local residents retreated back into their huts in fear, as the Jeeps skidded to a stop. Seven armed men got out of them, one of which Xander kept between his crosshairs.

Perched across the valley, Xander extracted a snapshot of the mission file from his photographic memory. He had received the picture of Samir Vashad and recognized the man's jet black, greasy hair that spiraled down into winding curls to his shoulders and the goatee that framed his square chin.

His memory then reproduced the text of the mission file.

US intelligence has decoded a stream of online terrorist network communications. The thread revealed a transfer of funds between Samir Vashad and an anonymous buyer – code name: Agent Zero. The true identity of Agent Zero remains unknown. Further analysis of online chatter confirms Agent Zero is planning an attack on US Soil in the Washington, DC area.

Mission: setup reconnaissance on the meet and intercept whatever is at the center of the exchange.

Xander listened through his earpiece as Vashad approached an unidentified elderly man and exchanged greetings. Assalamu 'alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. Vashad was a man of faith who greeted the fellow Muslim with the peace, mercy and blessings of Allah. But Xander was focused on the elderly man.

That can't be Agent Zero. He must be a courier.

Xander was able to decipher through his scope that the meeting was quickly shifting to a professional tone.

"My employer informs me that Agent Zero has been receiving quite the attention, regarding this next target," Vashad said in Arabic.

Employer? Vashad is just a middle-man?

"You mean this one?" The elderly man held up an object wrapped in a cloth. He threw it over to him. Vashad unwrapped what looked like a wad of cloth but Xander could not see what lay inside the rag.

"What is this? This isn't what my employer asked for?" Vashad asked, bewildered.

"Yes it is. It is the target..." the elderly man said "And if I could please have what your employer has for us?" At that, Vashad handed a bag over to the elderly man, he dug through the bag and brought out to Xander's view a pile of Afghan bills and US dollars.

"That will be enough for your transit and operations stateside. My employer also assures you safe passage – off any watch lists. I hear your employer is hiring some help... you know we have armies dedicated to killing Americans here." Xander focused closely on their lips, watching them match the words coming from his earpiece. He also kept his eye on their throats, watching their Adam's apple ascend and descend as they formed the harsh, hacking words of the Arabic tongue.

"I'm unaware of Agent Zero's affairs. I am just the messenger," the elderly man explained.

"Praise be to Allah." Vashad smiled, bestowed a quick parting blessing and stashed the target in his coat.