Sabotage: Beginnings Read Free

episode.
    “You are Iblis ,” Anwar shouted.
    Ben lunged at him. The man flinched—both hands covering his face in surrender. “You think I’m the devil? Well, isn’t that an upgrade from a dumbass? Lets celebrate, shall we?” Ben chuckled maniacally.
    “That’s enough,” Al bin Tosk ordered. He slammed his ornately carved walking stick against a jagged rock.
    “Who do you think you are, Moses? You going to bring water from this rock old man?” Ben, basted in sweat, felt his heart beat elevating.
    Al bin Tosk scoffed, “We have no fairy tale Moses in our faith. It’s time for you to leave this land. Now!” he screamed.
    Ben’s body trembled—it wouldn’t be long. “One last chance. Where is Osama bin Laden?”
    “Go home, Iblis ,” Anwar said.
    Ben grabbed the old man by his tunic, jerked Anwar to his feet. The man’s tattered hemp sandals remained where they were.
    “Where is he?” Ben said.
    “You’re worse than he is.”
    Ben whispered, “Where?”
    “Go home, Iblis . We prefer the treatment of bin Laden. At least he doesn’t come disguised.”
    Ben pulled the reed-thin man toward him. Anwar’s feet left the ground. Ben smashed his forehead into the tribesman’s nose and eyes. Blood exploded from Anwar’s mahogany-colored face. The high altitude and thin air made bleeding much easier and clotting very difficult. Anwar crumbled limp.
    Ben clamped his teeth against Anwar’s throat. He blacked out for a moment, but remained in control of his actions. His teeth gnashed and jerked as he powerfully brought them together with all the strength Ben could muster, until he felt cartilage give. He continued to bite and tear until Anwar’s larynx dangled from between his teeth.
    Ben released Anwar’s bloodstained salwar kameez, and he fell.
    “You want your Iblis , you got him. I’m your devil now. Tell me where Osama bin Laden is, or I’ll kill every one of you.” He glared with a wide-eyed expression, allowing the whisk of wind to carry sand against his pupils. He didn’t flinch—focus was on his mission—to find Osama bin Laden.
    Al bin Tosk’s frail figure quaked. “Is this what America promised for our people? Send deviants like you to help us? I regret the first time I ever met you Ben Franklin Ford.” Tears dampened his greenish-brown eyes, “Please, go back to America.”
    “Listen up. You agreed to help me. You will help, or I’ve no need for you or your Popi tribe.”
    Ben’s Middle East mission was crystal clear—find Osama bin Laden, or don’t come back. It used to twist his gut that the country he loved and served, disregarded him as disposable. But, to be fair, he’d known the risk, just not the bullshit attached. The CIA oversaw the entire experiment—another reason to expect the unexpected.
    The Agency had promised Ben, as a young recruit, he’d never be the same after serving as a covert operative. He’d withdrawn from the prestigious West Point Military Academy, and sprinted full-speed into the eager arms of CIA scientists and bureaucrats. He still hated them for what they’d done to him, but as time dragged on, he’d forgotten what it was he hated about what they did. He had become who he was.
    Al bin Tosk was speaking. Ben’s mind warbled back.
    “…do what you wish with us—we’re not afraid to die for our cause—but leave our people alone. They don’t deserve to be doomed by one man’s selfish wrath.”
    “Who’s the youngest?” Ben’s mind flashed between controlled manipulation tactics and an intense thirst for blood.
    “What?” Al bin Tosk snugged his scarf up to his bearded chin.
    Ben struggled to settle his mind, and decided he’d move onto the next phase of this plan. He’d do whatever it took to capture the terrorist responsible for murdering 2,980 Americans during the coordinated attacks on September 11, 2001. He’d also been in this region and Europe for over a year. He’d grown tired of the culture and the men.
    “Which of you