Agent Carver opened a file on the mine which contained some old black and white photos, displaying them on the table. “These are the two large storage sheds, both wooden construction and probably quite rundown, meaning anyone inside probably has lots of missing sideboards to look out of on all sides. As you can see, the one the infrared picked up the body in is on the right and has two levels. This tells me that the guard is probably using the top floor as his lookout,” he explained while using a pointer to identify the buildings as he spoke. “If you look at the entrance of the mine, it appears to be about fifteen feet wide and about ten feet high. According to the mine maps it goes straight back, but records indicate that there was a cave-in and it’s now pretty much closed up about 100 feet back, leaving no exit other than the main entrance.”

“Taking both the lookout and the cave shouldn’t be any problem,” Jeff noted. “The problem is, we don’t know how the kids are being held within the cave. We’ll have to deal with that real-time. This shouldn’t be a problem if we are able to quickly take the two suspects out simultaneously.”

Harris pondered the situation while Bragg, wanting to add something to the situation, inquired, “Given the terrain, how close can we get backup vehicles without danger of being heard?”

“I’d give it a quarter mile minimum, but I’d probably keep it at least a mile or two until we’ve cleared the lookout,” Jeff informed him. “We’ll have feeds to your monitors, as well as portable monitors of our own. Once we’re ready to enter the mine, I’d pull your vehicles to this point,” he said, while pointing to a spot on the map just outside of visibility of the mine entrance. “Lights out.”

“Okay, let’s get our teams coordinated and get moving.” Harris instructed. “Jeff, give us your time parameters and we’ll have the backup ready to go. Dawson, coordinate state and local. Carver, get the flyby arranged based on Jeff’s signal. Arrange for nine ambulances and have the closest hospital on standby. I want a psychologist with us for each of the six kids as well. This is highest security.” Harris did not want another public raid which didn’t turn out to be the kids.

The men in the room then dispersed to their urgent tasks.

≈

Their way lit by the reflective light of the almost full moon, six well-armed SWAT team members dressed in desert camouflage made their way over the crest where two hills met behind the mine. Silently, they continued to the base of the hill within twenty yards of the smaller shack. At the same time, two SWAT sharpshooters stealthily positioned themselves one hundred yards in front of the mine, ensuring a clear view of both the shacks and the mine entrance. One of the members set up a thermal infrared camera on a tripod and aimed it at the two story shack.