Pandemic

Haldane had watched his share of war movies, but seeing the battle unfold on these close circuit TVs was nothing like what he had imagined. It took his eyes and stomach several minutes to adjust to the shaky, erratic video feed with their flickering imagery. A couple of the screens showed only blackness, as if switched off, but every once in a while the sudden bright flash of an explosion punctuated the darkness.

One of the screens showed a sky view of two attached buildings, taken from what Haldane assumed was a helicopter. The complex, which looked from above like a run-down tenement, was lit up in an incandescent greenish glow. Several objects, likely vehicles, sat immobile in the dirt behind the building. A number of ill-defined objects scattered the ground in front of the building. Haldane wondered if they were people, but they never seemed to move. The only time anything in the frame moved was when, after a series of explosions lit up the screen, the entire complex shook from the percussive force.

But the images that gripped Haldane most were the bank of three screens in the bottom row, which resembled something from a newsroom. Shot through night-vision lenses, the images were in constant motion. It took Haldane a few moments to realize that the soldiers somehow carried these cameras. He glanced at Paddy and pointed to the screens for an explanation.

"Helmet-cameras." Paddy tapped his own head in explanation. "Part of the advanced assault unit."

Transfixed, almost forgetting to breathe, Haldane watched the soldiers study their target as their helmet-cameras panned over the compound.

After two more minutes of surveillance, the three screens abruptly changed in unison when the soldiers wearing the helmet-cameras turned their heads away from the target. The cameras focused on several soldiers lying prone in the dirt with assault rifles held out in front of them. They remained completely still for several long seconds. Then one of the soldiers popped up to his knees. He frantically punched the sky with a finger extended in a "Go! Go!" sign.

"Godspeed, guys!" Paddy muttered.

Suddenly the screens burst into action.

His heart pounding in his throat, Haldane couldn't keep track of the various viewpoints. The feeds from the helmet-cameras became so jerky that it looked as if the whole complex was seesawing in front of them.

Haldane's eyes darted to the previously static sky view, which erupted with activity. The camera zoomed in on the action so that Haldane could now make out the small shapes of soldiers. With explosion after explosion rocking the compound and lighting up the screen, the commandos streamed in from three sides of the complex, advancing in what looked like a full run.

Aside from the tapping of the keyboards and the occasional comment spoken by the communications officers into their radios, the van was silent, but Noah could almost hear the deafening roar and feel the ground shake with each detonation as the commandos approached the complex.

"Shit!" Paddy muttered.

For a moment, Noah was confused by the outburst. Then he saw it. One of the helmet-cameras had darkened. When Haldane looked closer, he recognized stars through the blankness. The cameraman had gone down.

A lump in his throat, Haldane focused back on the sky view. Three or four other commandos lay on the ground, some still and others writhing, while their comrades stormed around them. Haldane watched with relief as the rest of the commandos made it to the edge of the complex without suffering further casualties.

Noah watched the two remaining helmet-cameras as they swept over the peeling paint of the sides of the complex. Their images had stabilized, so Haldane knew they were moving slower now. The cameras panned over the ground at their feet. Numerous bodies of men in dark robes, some with traditional headwear and others with bandanas or bare heads, sprawled on the ground with weapons lying on their chests or fallen beside them. Until he saw the bodies, Haldane had not realized so many enemy fighters had been guarding the building from the outside.

The helmet-cameras didn't linger long on the corpses; instead, they focused in on the other commandos standing in front of a door to the complex. Two of them leveled their rifles at it. The muzzles spat out red fire as they emptied their cartridges into the door. Then another soldier kicked it with the sole of his foot and it fell inward.

Haldane's pulse quickened as the screen darkened and the soldiers stepped into a hallway. The picture tinted even greener from the cameras' night-vision lenses. The commandos moved cautiously. At each doorway and bend in the hallway they formed the same assault pose with men poised on either side, rifles held low. Each time, Haldane held his breath.