A Dragon's Tale #Watty's2015

Yemen

The plane touched down in Yemen early the next morning. My back hurt from sleeping up right and my legs were cramped. My skin felt tight and I was hot everywhere, but hey, at least I wasn't sweating.

“Get up John”, Hudson said shaking me awake, “were here.”

I rubbed my eyes and stood up. I grabbed my gear from the loft above me and started off the jet with Hudson and the others following me. The airport was a huge white concrete structure that was standing some 90 feet in the air. The roof was made entirely of glass and the sun shone easily into the building, eliminating the need of lights. We walked into a waiting area and took seats, beginning to observe the airport. There were more people here than I'd ever seen before. There were security guards everywhere, some of them were dressed in combat gear. There were some pretty high tech scanners as well, meaning there was no way we'd get through them without being made.

“Nolan said there was someone who would take us through security”, I said, “anyone see anyone that stands out?”

“There”, Issac said pointing to a man in a suit with sunglasses on, he was holding a sign that said read my name, “that's gotta be him.”

“Could it be another Mason?”, I asked, “we don't even get one screw up before the entire op is cracked wide open.”

“Do we have the choice of not taking the chance?”, Wyatt asked, “every minute we stand around is one minute off Frank's clock.”

“Your call brother”, Hudson said, “what you wanna do?”

“Let's do it”, I said standing up.

We grabbed our gear and walked over to the man who studied me for a minute.

“John Mason?”, he asked.

“That would be me”, I replied.

“Please follow me Major”, the man said.

We followed him past the scanners and through the main concourse which was full of people, different stores and a few restaurants. The man led us outside to a blue Mercedes sedan that was definitely parted up. The front end was sitting way low and the rear sported a large, aftermarket wing. Going by what of these I'd seen around Romeo, I guessed that someone had done rally work on it. Without another word, the man turned and left.

“Guess we load up”, Hudson said, “key's in the trunk.”

Hudson opened the the trunk and we placed our gear into it before piling in. Hudson sat shotgun, Wyatt and Issac in the back and I was at the wheel.

“You sure this is a good idea brother?”, Hudson asked.

“Yeah”, I said, “I remember everything, like the last time I drove was only a couple of days ago.”

Hudson looked intrigued, “what did HDR do to you?”

“Not entirely sure”, I replied, “I feel like Vietnam and Africa were only a month ago.”

“Weird”, Issac said, “well let's get this done. Nolan said after we got through security that we'd get further instructions.”

“Glove box”, Hudson said popping it open, revealing a blue folder with Romeo's military insignia stamped on it, “told ya.”

I took it from him and opened it. The folder contained a map with several places circled in red and one that was in blue. The letter within the folder as well said that the ones circled in red were areas where the people who guarded Frank frequented, while the blue one was the best place to eyeball the men and track them back to the prison building. I started the car as the others looked over the folder and drove from the airport. The streets were clogged, as was typical for any 2nd world country such a Yemen. The vehicles consisted mostly of bikes and sedans, but I saw several sportscars as well and even a few semis.