basics. Vocabulary, words. This booklet gives you two hundred words you’ll need. I’ll go over the pronunciation of the words with you. Then you’ll have an hour to learn the words and how to say them. Concentrate. Arabic will be as important to you where you’re going as the bullets in your weapons. First page, follow me closely. I’ll say the word and you read what it means. Then we’ll say the word five times.”
Murdock relaxed. The man knew what he was doing. Total immersion was the best way to learn a language,but first you had to have some of the basics, and a grounding of vocabulary. That’s what they were getting.
The training session lasted for four hours, with a tenminute break in the middle. By the time the men made it back to their quarters, they were groggy and stuffed with Arabic.
“We’ll speak Arabic in our quarters as well,” Murdock said when they were inside. “If we don’t know a word, we’ll ask Ollie. He’s our walking Arabic/English dictionary.”
“Is this language training gonna be worth it?” Jaybird asked.
“If it saves your neck in some Syrian alley, it will be worth it. If nothing else, we’ll have four more men in the platoon who speak Arabic. Knowing the world today, I can’t think of anything that will help us out more in the future.”
Don Stroh stepped into the big room and the men started yelling at him in Arabic. He grinned and shook his head.
“Don’t know that lingo, but I hope you aren’t saying bad things about me. Otherwise I chop off your eating privileges.” The CIA man looked at Murdock. “How did it go?”
“We’re getting a start. What are we going to be doing in Syria? They starting a war or something?”
“ ‘Something’ is right, but we can’t talk about it yet. We’re still tying down the exact location of the target.”
“Target? Why not use a laser bomb?” Jaybird asked.
“Anonymity, my small friend. We don’t want to advertise that we did this little deed. We don’t want anyone to know who did it. Therefore we can’t have anything on us or with us that might tie the act down to the U.S.”
“Weapons?” Murdock asked.
“The last day you get weapon training. All will be with European-made guns. H and K will be fine, but nothing U.S.-made.”
“We going in by ourselves?” Rafii asked.
“We’re still working on that. There will be a field teamof CIA people with you; we just don’t know how many or where they will originate.”
“They the brains and we’re support?” Lam asked.
“On this one we’ll need all the brains we can get. But you will be backup and support. Nobody lays down a field of fire like you guys do. Our people understand that and welcome you.”
“About damn time,” Jaybird said, and they laughed, cutting the tension in the room.
Don Stroh turned back to Murdock. “No lie, four albacore tuna per pole?”
“Earlier in the year. Down to about one and a half to two per pole last week. Of course that’s no guarantee. The best fishermen will get six or eight and most tourists will get none or maybe one if they’re lucky.”
“I plan on being lucky. Maybe when we get back from our Syrian vacation, I can take a run out to San Diego.”
“Hopefully. What’s up for tomorrow?”
“At oh-eight-hundred you get Syrian law and customs for two hours, then language for two. In the afternoon more Syrian customs and how to fade into a Syrian crowd. Then two more hours of language. After chow call at seventeen-thirty you get three more hours of Arabic. Then you hit the sack and dream in Arabic until the wake up call at oh-five-thirty.”
“We’re back in boot camp,” Lam said.
“Say that in Arabic, sailor,” Stroh barked.
“I can’t, not yet. Give me three more days.”
“Good, now study those Arabic/English books you got this afternoon.” Stroh smiled. “Hey, I wouldn’t have yelled and screamed to get you guys on this assignment if I didn’t think you could handle it. Our CIA guys
Murdock relaxed. The man knew what he was doing. Total immersion was the best way to learn a language,but first you had to have some of the basics, and a grounding of vocabulary. That’s what they were getting.
The training session lasted for four hours, with a tenminute break in the middle. By the time the men made it back to their quarters, they were groggy and stuffed with Arabic.
“We’ll speak Arabic in our quarters as well,” Murdock said when they were inside. “If we don’t know a word, we’ll ask Ollie. He’s our walking Arabic/English dictionary.”
“Is this language training gonna be worth it?” Jaybird asked.
“If it saves your neck in some Syrian alley, it will be worth it. If nothing else, we’ll have four more men in the platoon who speak Arabic. Knowing the world today, I can’t think of anything that will help us out more in the future.”
Don Stroh stepped into the big room and the men started yelling at him in Arabic. He grinned and shook his head.
“Don’t know that lingo, but I hope you aren’t saying bad things about me. Otherwise I chop off your eating privileges.” The CIA man looked at Murdock. “How did it go?”
“We’re getting a start. What are we going to be doing in Syria? They starting a war or something?”
“ ‘Something’ is right, but we can’t talk about it yet. We’re still tying down the exact location of the target.”
“Target? Why not use a laser bomb?” Jaybird asked.
“Anonymity, my small friend. We don’t want to advertise that we did this little deed. We don’t want anyone to know who did it. Therefore we can’t have anything on us or with us that might tie the act down to the U.S.”
“Weapons?” Murdock asked.
“The last day you get weapon training. All will be with European-made guns. H and K will be fine, but nothing U.S.-made.”
“We going in by ourselves?” Rafii asked.
“We’re still working on that. There will be a field teamof CIA people with you; we just don’t know how many or where they will originate.”
“They the brains and we’re support?” Lam asked.
“On this one we’ll need all the brains we can get. But you will be backup and support. Nobody lays down a field of fire like you guys do. Our people understand that and welcome you.”
“About damn time,” Jaybird said, and they laughed, cutting the tension in the room.
Don Stroh turned back to Murdock. “No lie, four albacore tuna per pole?”
“Earlier in the year. Down to about one and a half to two per pole last week. Of course that’s no guarantee. The best fishermen will get six or eight and most tourists will get none or maybe one if they’re lucky.”
“I plan on being lucky. Maybe when we get back from our Syrian vacation, I can take a run out to San Diego.”
“Hopefully. What’s up for tomorrow?”
“At oh-eight-hundred you get Syrian law and customs for two hours, then language for two. In the afternoon more Syrian customs and how to fade into a Syrian crowd. Then two more hours of language. After chow call at seventeen-thirty you get three more hours of Arabic. Then you hit the sack and dream in Arabic until the wake up call at oh-five-thirty.”
“We’re back in boot camp,” Lam said.
“Say that in Arabic, sailor,” Stroh barked.
“I can’t, not yet. Give me three more days.”
“Good, now study those Arabic/English books you got this afternoon.” Stroh smiled. “Hey, I wouldn’t have yelled and screamed to get you guys on this assignment if I didn’t think you could handle it. Our CIA guys
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