Hot Zone Read Online Free PDF Page B

toughest man in the world, let me put a couple of blisters on his feet and make him walk fifteen kilometers and watch him fall, crying like a baby." He once told students. "Take care of the feet, break in your boots well and fast."
    With his feet sending shock waves of pain through his body he stayed close to the backs of nine Legionnaires as they trekked for twenty-one kilometers to the outskirts of the small town.
    A lookout for the militia had seen the men appear on the horizon, alerting the soldiers to take their positions. Fifty Lebanese militants spread themselves throughout the town, waiting for the French soldiers to walk into their trap.
    The militants would surround them and then destroy them. The French didn't know that their Diplomat had already been murdered, throat slit from ear to ear. A video of the act had been sent to the French government. They would receive it ten days later.
    The Legionnaires stealthily made their way into the town under the cover of darkness. Grosjean grew increasingly anxious about going into a hot zone.
    This was at a time when Beirut was hell on earth while the world watched the war on television and watched Beirut being bombed daily, sometimes by it's own and sometimes not. Grosjean, though he had joined the Legion to protect his beloved France was not prepared to die just yet, especially to rescue some Diplomat who was useless to the cause.
    As the team moved down through the city it happened.
    With no warning gunfire erupted from the shadows of buildings all around the Legionnaires. The two lead men were cut down where they stood, their bodies torn apart by a hail of bullets. The other's scattered for cover in all directions.
    Grosjean and his cover man made a mad dash for a parked car on a side street when the two where thrown to the ground by a thunderous explosion. When Grosjean was able to lift his head from the gravel road he saw his cover man lying on the ground clutching the fleshy stump that remained on his left leg. He had stepped on a land mine the militia had planted especially for the Legion team. Grosjean wanted to help his winger but no sooner was he downed the militia opened fire on the fallen soldier, shredding his body with gunfire. Grosjean fled, blisters an all from the city as he heard the gunfire ring out behind him, bullets whizzing by his ears. His entire team slaughtered in a matter of moments.
    Grosjean was not going to launch a fight he could not win.
    For three days Marc Grosjean hid out in the highlands around Beirut until he was able to hitch a ride to the Legion's quarters in the small town of Alshouf, where he was treated for exposure and debriefed by lead intelligence Legionnaires.
    Grosjean was seen as a hero just for escaping and being able to survive on instinct alone in a hostile territory. For his heroics he was awarded the new title of Caporal, the equivalent to Corporal and two levels of rank higher then where he had entered the Legion and was also given a Medal of Honor.
    * * *
    Grosjean stepped into the small Zodiac and powered away from the Rainbow Warrior Jr trying to shake off memories of those horrifying days in Beirut, all the while struck with the curiosity of what had befallen the environmentalists out at sea.
    Another thing to consider was the almost certain fact that the Americans would get involved and what part they would play in either solving the mystery or hindering his investigation. There was also the small nuclear test he was preparing his men for.
    It was going to be a tough couple of days for Marc Grosjean.
    Real tough.

 
    5
 
    Jordan was captivated by the wondrous sea of blue that stretched out for miles in every direction below her. Every so often a tiny green island laced with pearly white sand would flash underneath the Black Hawk as it sped towards the USS Kitty Hawk. As promised the Navy had set Jordan up with new clothes, khaki shorts and shirt and they also provided her with a wet suit for the diving she would