align="center">III
Dani arrived at Jackson’s hotel at six forty-five the following morning. “Hey, Stonewall, you ready?” she said into her phone.
“All set; be right down. Wasn’t expecting you for another fifteen to twenty minutes.”
“What’s the matter? I thought you Special Forces guys were always ready,” Dani chimed in.
“I’m ready; just need to put my shoes on and I’ll be right there.”
Jackson emerged from the lobby elevator to find Dani waiting for him – and her transformation could not have been more complete: Gone was yesterday’s ponytail and tomboy image and replaced with a Giorgio Armani business suit that seriously out-classed Jackson’s sport coat and tie.
“Ready to go?” She asked him as Jackson walked up to her.
“I’m not sure; just what are we doing today?” Jackson asked, noting Dani’s very professional attire.
“Ah, today’s an office day, so you’re good.”
Jackson noticed Dani’s sense of style extended to her choice of vehicle as well. “Cadillac, huh? Nice car,” Jackson commented admiringly as he got into her car. “A little different from yesterday’s rig?”
“That was a pool car; those things are just too generic for me. I like something with a little more style.”
“Well, it looks like you found it. Bet you don’t see many of these over here, do you?”
“No, you really don’t. I wanted something stylish yet something really sporty. The ATS seemed to fit the bill – I actually had to special order it so I picked up the ATS-V,” Dani replied.
“I bet you did; this is really cool!” Jackson added. “So, what’s on tap for today? Jim didn’t give me any kind of agenda or any idea as to what to expect.”
“Remember that sudden meeting I told you that Bibi scheduled with Tamir, just as you arrived yesterday? Well, it turns out we have a little operation scheduled for tonight.”
“Really? What kind of an ‘operation’? ” Jackson asked.
“Well, Ben’s talking it over with Tamir right now. Even though I’m Ops, I don’t know all of the details on this one yet. Ben will fill us in when we get to the office.”
“So, tell me about Ben. He seems like a real take charge kind of guy. I mean he answered the first two questions that I asked you last night.”
“He is in command of our unit but don’t prejudge him. He’s very good and usually, all business. Until you get to know him, he might come off as a bit of a control-freak. Once he’s had a chance to get to know someone, however, he relaxes quite a bit. Yoni, on the other hand, is much like you saw him last night, quiet and fairly reserved, but don’t let that calm demeanor fool you. We’ve been in a few scrapes with Hezbollah up in Lebanon – there is no one, Ben included, who I’d rather have with me in a fire fight. Yoni is rock solid and seemingly knows the entire battle-scape – wherever that is – like it was his hometown.”
“What are you guys doing in Lebanon? I thought this team’s focus was Iran.”
“Oh, Iran is, and remains, the primary focus of our team. You see, Iran supplies Hezbollah with everything, from ammunition to rockets – and they station several of their Republican Guards in the Beqaa Valley. Every now and then, we get another piece of the puzzle up there.”
“I can see that; just thought a different team would take care of that for you.”
“When it comes to Iran, Ben likes our team to do as much of the work as possible. He wants to make sure nothing gets missed.”
“Yeah, I can appreciate that.”
“So, did you get your Starbucks fix in yet this morning?” Dani asked, changing the subject.
“No, I didn’t. I thought there’d be one in the hotel but couldn’t find anything.”
“Well, Starbucks isn’t in Israel. I got hooked on them when I was at A & M but had to get used to our variety back here when I came home; it’s a lot stronger here. This place here’s a favorite of mine.”
Seeing that Dani pulled into a parking spot, rather than the proverbial drive-thru, he asked Dani, “Ah, what time are we supposed to get in to the office this morning?”
“Ben and Tamir are still working out the details for tonight’s operation. They told me we didn’t need to be in the office all that early, so, since you haven’t been to Israel before, I thought we’d take our time this morning. Find a table and I’ll get the coffee.”
Jackson found a table on the street-side patio and waited for Dani. Once she sat down with their coffee, Jackson simply stated, “So, tell me about Iran’s nuclear ambitions.”
* * *
Tamir told Ben that as soon as Arielle & Stonewall arrived, they were to be brought into his office right away. Two hours after their coffee stop, Ben ushered them into Tamir’s office.
“Stonewall, I believe Arielle mentioned that we have an operation scheduled for tonight. This will be a simple recon mission that will last about a day and a half. Would you be interested in tagging along as an ‘observer’? We’d love to have you along for the ride.”
“I’d love to. Jim didn’t give me much in the way of instructions so, yeah, let’s go.”
“Excellent. While this is a recon mission, we still want to get you checked out. What do you carry for a sidearm?” Tamir asked Stonewall.
“I carry either an H&K VP9 or a Sig P226,” Jackson responded, suddenly piqued by the nature of this “recon” mission.
“Good, we have both. Yoni will take you out to the range and check you out. Ben and Arielle will go over the mission while you’re out with Yoni. Once you get back, we’ll fill you in on all of the details.”
Two hours later, Jackson joined Tamir, Ben, Dani, & Yoni in the conference room where he initially met Ben and Yoni. Ben began the briefing letting Jackson know that they would be flying to Baku, Azerbaijan, that evening and from there they would drive to Tehran.
“We kind of figured you’d be going,” Ben added, as he handed Jackson his false documents. “We’ll have the rest of the gear you’ll need when we get to our destination.”
“I’m not even going to ask you how you put these together so quickly.”
“That’s okay; we wouldn’t tell you anyway,” Ben added with a big grin on his face. “Okay, when we’re done here, Arielle will take you back to the hotel to get some sleep. She’ll pick you up around nine o’clock tonight, grab some dinner and get you to the airfield.”
Jackson knew that every Israeli served in the military in some capacity. However, he had as yet to fully accept the exact capacity
