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the Salinas area because of the helicopter assaults we did on the compounds in our area. They hoped to make the Salinas area into a staging ground to replace the ones we devastated. Best of all, they didn’t know we were on to them yet. It was our understanding Gilani knew something about the Starlight of the Seas assault.
    “Cheese can explain the rules of engagement,” Denny ended his talk. “Nick will be op leader, but Cheese has to determine who lives and dies according to the pictures we have of suspects we’re hoping will be with Gilani. Is that okay with you, Nick?”
    “Who is Cheese?”
    I took a deep breath while my crew appreciated the moment. “That’s me, Nick. I got sliced and diced in the octagon by a fighter named Rattler. It earned me the nickname Cheeseburger because of my face after the fight… Cheese for short. Please feel free to use it since your friend’s name is John too. As to the rules of engagement, I’m figuring Gilani alive, but damn if I care whether we execute the rest. The media keeps inventing this term called radicalized. I figure we’ll un-radicalize a bunch in this mosque you guys found hiding Gilani.”
    “Sounds good to me, Cheese. I like your tag. What’s your tag, Lucas?”
    “Never mind what my tag is, boot-camp!”
    “It’s Ahab,” Lynn immediately informed Nick. “He treats that damn boat of ours, The Sea Wolf, like his own private chariot of fire. Clint’s is ‘the man from nowhere’ or Nowhere for short.”
    “Thanks, hon,” Clint said as Nick and his ‘Unholy Trio’ expressed their appreciation of the added humor.
    “We laugh our asses off when we see the newest ‘Unholy Trio’ YouTube video,” Lynn said. “El Muerto, Payaso, and the formidable El Kabong. Well guys, what do you have in mind for our wayward masjid?”
    “It is a blasphemy,” John told us with conviction. “We should bar the doors and burn it to the ground.”
    “Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about,” Lynn exclaimed. “I’ll bet the guys here who did time in the sand pits overseas felt like we should have that as the first rule of engagement - hit mosques with bombs, rockets, and then troops. We would have taken care of the enemy leaders hiding there along with their armories.”
    Clint, Denny, Nick, Lucas and I exchanged knowing glances. Lynn hit it dead on right. There were no mosques in the Middle East anymore, only armories and troop barracks with religious symbols on the outside.
    “Lynn’s right. Add in the assholes using hospitals, schools, and even their ambulances for transporting, storing, and launching assaults for the completed picture,” Nick agreed. “As to our operation today, John and his wife Cala will infiltrate with audio and video gear so we’ll know whether they have a kids’ group on the premises. They will also try to find where Gilani is. No matter what they find or don’t find, this is too important to pass up. We assault with smoke grenades if kids are inside, but if it’s mostly adults we throw in flash bangs and salt the earth inside. I’m figuring Lucas at the sniper’s nest I have picked out for the op. He’ll make sure we’re not interrupted. Gus will be his spotter. He’s done it many times for me, Lucas. How’s the outside police interference, Denny?”
    “We will have a two hour action window under the auspices of a Homeland Security operation,” Denny answered. “I contracted a private cleaning firm I’ve used in the past for the final wrap-up. They’ll take care of bodies and bleaching. Do you and Cala have a retreat spot, John?”
    “Yes. She and I will take Gilani if we find him. We will then keep under cover in a room to be called in later. Cala will smuggle in a couple of weapons along with our breathing masks under her burka just as the snakes do when they attack a public place. We will have red tops on under our regular masjid clothing so we will not be executed for hiding while Muslim.”
    We took a lighthearted