Gideon's War/Hard Target by Howard Gordon Read Free Book Online Page B

that was a bad...
    CHAPTER SIX
    AT TWELVE THOUSAND, GIDEON opened his eyes again. Pale light still filtered through the murky water, but the sun was getting lower. He closed his eyes and kept breathing and counting.
    At fifteen thousand, he forced his eyes open long enough to see that night had finally fallen. He sat up slowly, concentrating on not making any sound. As his face broke the surface, he looked around. The only light came from a hut at the far side of the paddy. He rose and walked as slowly as he could toward what he believed to be the road.
    He was shivering as he climbed onto the berm. He lay gasping on the dry earth for a few minutes before finally rising to his knees. The air was probably close to ninety degrees, but the water had been cold enough to lower his core temperature several degrees. He was shaking so violently he felt as if he might fall over if he stood. But he knew he had to start moving—both to distance himself from the ambush site and to get warm.
    Gideon began walking slowly down the side of the road. His tuxedo was soaked and stinking. Manure appeared to be the fertilizer of choice here. Gideon smiled ruefully. Fifteen hours earlier, he’d been sitting on top of the world, at the center of its attention. And now, here he was, creeping around some forgotten part of the world, absurdly dressed and smelling of shit.
    What surprised him most was how good he felt. Not just good, but vibrantly, gloriously alive. Why? he thought. Was it just a natural reaction, endorphins running wild after nearly getting killed? Or was it something else? Gideon didn’t have much time to consider the question. Before he’d gone more than a few yards, he heard something moving toward him. A rustling in the tall grass. He sank to his haunches. The sound grew closer. A sentry? A farmer? Suddenly the rustling sound gave way to a ferocious bark. A dog. His heart began to race. The dog sounded like some kind of monster.
    He knew that if he ran, it would catch him. Better to prepare to fight. He picked up a fallen branch from a nearby tree and braced himself for confrontation.
    From the volume and pitch of its bark, he had pictured some giant slobbering beast, a mastiff or a Doberman. So when he saw the little mutt bursting into the clearing, he laughed. Still, he feared the dog’s furious barking would draw the unwanted attention of some villager.
    He crouched down and held out his hand.
    The dog stopped, hurled a few more tentative barks at him, then approached him cautiously. Finally it sniffed his hand. One quick sniff, then it quivered all over, as if it was trying to shake off the stink.
    “I know . . .” Gideon patted the dog on the head. “I smell like a goat fart.”
    The dog ran a quick lap around him.
    Gideon decided he’d better keep moving. Although the dog had quieted down to a breathless pant, someone might still come out to investigate. He moved as quickly down the road as he could without making noise. The dog trotted after him. The berm on which the road was situated ran as far as he could see. Which wasn’t very far. But he remembered a tree line in the distance, maybe half a mile down the road. If he could get into the jungle, he felt confident he could avoid being discovered.
    Twice on the way down the road, cars passed by. Each time he was forced to slip off the side of the berm and back into the foul-smelling mud of the adjoining rice paddy. The first vehicle just barreled past him. But the second slowed, then stopped. He heard the sound of harsh voices, then someone jumped out of the vehicle.
    Click.
    The sound of a rifle being cocked. Probably an AK. Jihadis? Probably. Gideon shivered. He still wasn’t close to being warm yet.
    Footsteps, moving toward him. Gideon flattened himself against the berm. He considered slithering back into the water again, but he was afraid he might be heard. So he stayed pressed against the warm earth, which stilled his shivering body.
    Suddenly the footsteps