Evan drove a few miles out of town and pulled over. "Dobby?" he called out. Dobby popped into the truck compartment, standing on the passenger chair. "Yes, Master Birdy. " "Were you able to find the things I asked?" Evan asked Dobby. "Oh yes sir, Master Birdy! Dobby bees finding." Dobby replied as he held up a plastic bag filled with the required ingredients. Then he held up a box in the other hand.."Dobby also bees making Master Birdy and his friends a basket of food for tomorrow!" he said excitedly. "heh, heh" Evan chuckled. "You're going to spoil me rotten, Dobby. You know that?" he replied. "It's Dobby's job, Master Birdy" he said sheepishly. "You are a good friend and a good elf Dobby. I want you to know that I really appreciate both." Evan told Dobby. "OK, off with you for now. I'll call you. Oh, before you go – you could do me a BIG favor. Pop by Hermione and tell her I love her and that I am OK. " "Dobby will do" and then he popped away. A half hour later, at 22:45 (10:45pm) Evan arrived back to camp. As he came close to "camp" he gave a quick honk on the horn. The team, dispersed and hidden amongst the brush along the unpaved road, came out, point their weapons at the "new" truck. Evan came to a stop near the other truck, and dismounted slowly, with his arms raised. "Anybody for rabbits?" he asked (A/N a common phrase used by Royal Marines – rabbits=gifts or souvenirs obtained by going on a rabbit run. The purpose of using the phase here was to identify himself as a Royal Marine to the others, so they wouldn't mistakenly shoot him).
"What the f##K, Fenix? I send you to get some vegetables and you come back with a truck?" McCormick commented. "Well, I did get vegetables, and a lot more" he replied, pulling the bag of vegetables from the passenger seat." "I have a box here with breakfast and food for tomorrow; I found healing herbs, and….this truck has an operating transmitter. Before I acquired the truck, I was able to contact base and let them know what happened. I also called the phone number the Ambassador gave me, and forwarded on her message." Evan replied, looking at her and nodding his head. "The local militia was monitoring the phones, as suspected, and came within a few minutes of me calling. After inspecting their trucks, I thought one of them might be useful, so I disabled the other one, including their transmitter." "You disabled their truck? How?" McCormick asked. "Quietly, of course. I punctured their tire stems" Evan replied. "So, when can we expect some heat from them?" McCormick asked. "Well, I nicked the truck about 30km to the south" came his reply. "30km south! How the hell did you get there and back within 3 hours?" McCormick asked incredulously. "I flew, of course!" was Evan's answer. "Actually, I was lucky enough to secretly hitch a ride south. I climbed out of the boot when the car stopped. Found a pharmacy, broke in. Got what I needed. Phoned home. Militia came. I took their truck and drove back. Three hours – doable."
"Now, I'd better get to making these poultices" Evan said.
As the Ambassador looked on, she felt a sense of sadness and inspiration take hold of her. Here were young soldiers, not much older than her own son, hardened. Here was a young soldier, hardened, yet a healer; a leader, even if he wasn't the designated leader; and creative!
CHAPTER BREAK
June 18, 1996. 10pm. Beauxbaton Academe' de Magik. Dobby tugged on Hermione's pajama pants leg. "Hi, Dobby! How are you? What's up?" she asked. "Iz bees good, Master Birdy's Grangy. Master Birdy tells Dobby to tell his Miss Grangy he is OK and thinking of you." Hermione's face crinkled a bit as she thought of what Dobby was saying …and not saying. "Dobby? Where is Evan? What was he doing?" she asked. "Master Birdy not on base – on mission. Dobby doesn't know where." "Was he hurt?" she asked quickly. "No. Master Birdy bes getting medicines for hurt soldiers." "Hurt soldiers? You said Evan was not hurt?" she asked. "Master Birdy not hurt" Dobby repeated. "Where was he, Dobby?" "Dobby bes not knows" he repeated. "Bad solders nearby" he continued. "Master Birdy told me to tell his Miss Grangy he loves her and that he is OK. His tranz…..tranz…talking thing broken. Master Birdy had to call home, and get medicines. Master Birdy take bad soldiers truck and was OK when he call Dobby." Hermione's heart rate dropped to just above normal.
June 18, 1996. 22:00 (10pm) IFOR Compound. Major Tigg's Office. The telephone rang. "Major Tiggs." He said, after picking up the receiver. "Sir – This is Corporal Johansen in the operator's office." "Yes, Corporal. How can I help you at this time?" he asked. "Sir. I had a very strange call, sir. The caller said Sparrow was down, betrayed, Sir." This had the Major's attention. "What else did this caller say, and how did he identify himself?" he asked. "He said ' 7+1 chicks flew the coup, two with broken wings. He said for you to expect the unexpected?" "Was that a question, Corporal?" asked the Major. "No, Sir. He made me repeat the message, Sir. I just didn't understand the message, Sir. He told me he did not have a lot of time, Sir." Responded the Corporal. "Where did this call originate from, Corporal?" "Serbia, Sir." Sh*t. At least he knew most of them were alive. '7 + 1 chicks' must mean seven of the bodyguard crew plus the Ambassador. 'broken wings' must mean two were injured. The lack of helicopter and the lack of a transponder signal could only mean that the helicopter was destroyed. This was turning into one major clusterfuck. 'expect the unexpected' could mean anything. "Corporal – did he identify himself?" "No, Sir. After I repeated the message, he disconnected." "OK. Thanks Corporal. Call me immediately if you have another call like that."
When he looked back down at his desk he saw a slip of paper with two sets of numbers and the words "lost sparrows". They looked like coordinates. He pulled out a map and looked them up – a location in Serbia: Aleksinac/Bosphorus. "Expect the unexpected, indeed." The Major whispered. He wondered how the slip of paper got on his desk.
The Major contemplated what he could do. The mission was secret. As far as they knew, the Serbians thought the mission failed. If he sent in a helo, he might jeopardize things. He'd just have to see how this team worked.
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