White Spider

WHITE SPIDER A BREED THRILLER CAMERON CURTIS Published by Inkubator Books www.inkubatorbooks.com Copyright © 2023 by Cameron Curtis Cameron Curtis has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work. ISBN (eBook): 978-1-83756-170-4 ISBN (Paperback): 978-1-83756-171-1 WHITE SPIDER is a work of fiction. People, places, events, and situations are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead is entirely coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher. CONTENTS Inkubator Books Fire and Ice Maps Chapter 1 Burkina Faso, Seven Years Ago - 2015 Chapter 2 Present Day - Thursday, 1900 Hours - Narvik Chapter 3 Thursday, 2200 Hours - Narvik, The Djevelkafé Chapter 4 Friday, 0800 Hours - Evenes Air Station Chapter 5 Friday, 1200 Hours - Greenland Sea – Waves Chapter 6 Friday, 1300 Hours - Greenland Sea – Sea Hawk Chapter 7 Friday, 1400 Hours - USS Pressley Bannon Chapter 8 Friday, 1600 Hours - The Spider - The Arrival Chapter 9 Friday, 1630 Hours - The Spider - Thorval Chapter 10 Friday, 1730 Hours – The Spider - Voss Chapter 11 Friday, 1800 Hours - The Spider - Star Pool Chapter 12 Friday, 1900 Hours – The Spider - Dinner Chapter 13 Friday, 2000 Hours – The Spider - Dead Space Chapter 14 Friday, 2200 Hours – The Spider - Workout Chapter 15 Friday, 2300 Hours – The Spider - Bridge Chapter 16 Friday, 2400 Hours – The Spider - Sleep Chapter 17 Saturday, 0100 Hours – The Spider - Murder Chapter 18 Saturday, 0200 Hours – The Spider - Sickbay Chapter 19 Saturday, 0230 Hours – The Spider - Flight Chapter 20 Saturday, 0330 Hours – The Spider - The Cage Chapter 21 Saturday, 0400 Hours – The Spider - Recon Chapter 22 Saturday, 0430 Hours – The Spider - SEAL Reveal Chapter 23 Saturday, 0500 Hours – The Spider - Boat Deck Chapter 24 Saturday, 0530 Hours – The Spider - Into the Storm Chapter 25 Saturday, 0600 Hours - Trondheim – Feliks Chapter 26 Saturday, 0630 Hours – The Spider - The Clock Ticks Chapter 27 Saturday, 0700 Hours – The Spider - Nygard Chapter 28 Saturday, 0730 Hours – The Spider - The Deal Chapter 29 Saturday, 0800 Hours – The Spider - Engagement Chapter 30 Saturday, 0830 Hours – The Spider - CQB Chapter 31 Saturday, 0900 Hours – The Type 6 - Arctic Dawn Chapter 32 Monday, 0900 Hours - Bryant Park Epilogue Inkubator Newsletter Acknowledgments Also by Cameron Curtis JOIN THE INKUBATOR MAILING LIST You will be the first to learn about new releases plus the many FREE and discounted Kindle books we offer! bit.ly/3tpZe28 For Noa Fire and Ice By Robert Frost Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice 1 BURKINA FASO, SEVEN YEARS AGO - 2015 I tried to talk Paul Butler out of the mission. In the end, the Green Beret captain talked me into helping him. That’s why I’m crawling on my belly across the Burkina Faso desert. Slow is fast. Our progress is measured in minutes per yard rather than yards per minute. The new moon helps. The sky above is a blanket of stars, but there is little light on the ground. Butler crawls along six feet behind me. We’ve covered our belt buckles, sling swivels, and anything that might rattle with black duct tape. I squint through my NODs—Night Optical Devices—and study the jihadi camp. Three pickup trucks stand parked a quarter mile away. Their high silhouettes make them easy to spot. I know from satellite photographs they are arranged in a loose triangle. A tarp was spread between their roofs during the day, a makeshift awning. It’s been rolled up and stowed. Within the triangle are six men. Three Boko Haram fighters and three hostages. The hostages are American journalist Benjamin Kagen, his son, and a third Caucasian yet to be identified. Four more insurgents stand watch in the desert, a hundred yards from the trucks. They form a square around the vehicles. During the day, they can see for over a mile in every direction. On a moonless night, they can see the vehicles and each other. They can see approaching vehicles and men on foot. There’s no way to take out the sentries without attracting attention. Our suppressed HK-416 rifles fire supersonic ammunition. You can’t mask the supersonic crack of a bullet. I stop, flip up my NODs, and scan the ground with thermal binoculars. Black-hot or white-hot. I thumb the selector into white-hot mode. The sky and desert are black and shades of gray. The sentries glow white from their body heat. I mark one man’s position, and another guard two hundred yards behind him. Panning slowly right, I pick up the vehicles. Their metal skin retains heat more effectively than the ground. The trucks glow bright. Further to the right are two more sentries. Butler and his team sergeant have joined on either side of me. I hand the thermals to Butler and lower my NODs. Without a word, I crawl forward, and Butler follows me. The team sergeant and three men remain at Phase Line Bravo. I’m America’s only Tier I asset in West Africa. A former Delta Force operator, I’m on contract to the CIA’s Ground Branch. A-Teams like Butler’s are not specialists in hostage rescue or capture-kill missions. This mission is their unicorn moment. I can help them succeed. The ground is flat, littered with short, scruffy bushes. I crawl through the scrub, the 416 cradled in my arms. The sandy earth, inches from my nose, smells of dust. I’m patient... Slow is