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Message: <blockquote data-quote="The Shaman" data-source="post: 2753744" data-attributes="member: 26473">Kat slips on his smock carefully. “Maybe you’d like to a helicopter instead of the truck, Commando Fortier?” the Greek replies icily. “If this Moroccan actually knows anything, we should find where he lives and let the gendarmes...”“Oh, he lives at the station!” Pauline interrupts, “in a flat in the back.” She smiles triumphantly, The sergent considers the information as Dr. Bruzzi ties off the last suture in Normand’s neck. “Okay,” Kat says at last, “we’ll take a look.” He looks up at Normand. “I’m not going to ask, ‘cause I’m sure you’ll say yes. Doctor,” he continues, “my radioman, can he to return to duty?”Dr. Bruzzi shakes his head. “I’ve already given him an anesthetic for his leg and started an IV with antibiotics. He won’t be able to walk for at least another two hours.” The physician wipes his hands on a towel. “I appreciate the young légionnaire’s enthusiasm and dedication,” says the Italian, nodding to Marcel. “I’ve seen more blood spilled in my years than I can remember, and I don’t care to see more, tonight or any night. I ask you to reconsider, sergent.” He takes off his glasses and cleans them with an edge of his scrubs as he speaks. “This is a delicate time in relations between the colons and the Arabs in Portemonte. The death of the Rubieras has inflamed the town already. I do not wish to see a massacre fueled by innuendo.”Kat looks at the doctor. “We saw those ‘relations’ earlier, doctor,” he replies evenly. “If there is a connection, I don’t want it to slip away in the night.” The sous-officier closes the last button on his tunic, them slips his beret from the shoulder strap and puts it on his head. “I take your point. Is there a way to get to the Esso without taking the main streets?”The doctor sighs quietly and says nothing for a moment, then, his face resigned, he replies, “There is an alley...”In the lobby of the clinic is a surprise – David and Burhan returned with a large basket of bread, cheese, and olives along with two bottles of wine and hot coffee in a silver ewer. The legionnaires bolt the food eagerly as Kat outlines the plan. “It’s a garage with an attached flat, one story. Two big sliding doors in front, same in back, with a chainlink fence enclosing the rear of the building. The nurse says this Moroccan keeps a big dog back there, so we’ll approach from the front.”“Manolo, you’ll take Babaye’s group, and I’ll take the choc group. Take care of perimeter security.” He frowns slightly. “We’ll figure out entry once we get a look at the place.”“We want to avoid contact with the townspeople if we can. We’re taking an alley about two blocks, from behind this row of buildings opposite. I want light and noise discipline the whole way. If we make contact with the UT or other civilians, let me do the talking. Got that, Fortier?”The sergent glances at the big metal chronograph in his wrist. “The moon won’t be up for several hours. Know what you’re shooting at. Burhan, you’re on point – everyone else, tactical column on me.”The paras slip out the door and cross the street, stealing between two buildings across from the clinic into the alley. The high desert air is already cold, and windows and curtains are closed against the chill – little light intrudes on the shadows of the alley, save from the back door of a bistro which the paras quickly pass. After a couple of blocks darting between pools of darkness Kat raises his hand and the column stops behind a tidy pied-noir house – in the dim light beyond is the cyclone fence marking the rear of the service station.The section leader grips Sánchez by the sleeve and whispers in his ear, then motions to the choc group – Nedjar, Burhan, Pyotr, and Normand – to follow him. The four men backtrack a short ways until a path between two homes is found – slipping between the houses, hoping there are no dogs or curious citizens, the legionnaires make their way to the street, and jog the short distance to where they can see the front of the Esso station. <img src="http://www.gomenaarkansas.com/images/esso1.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" /> The Esso station in Portemonte – see the attached map for details.All: Spot, Listen, Hide, and Move Silently checks, please! Marcel is with Sánchez, Ortu, Asmussen, and Syrovy near O20 on the map. Pyotr and Normand are with Katsourianis, Nedjar, and Pamuk near E20. Note that none of you are on the map proper yet.</blockquote>

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