Black Site (48 page)
We set our cover for action and proceeded cautiously but deliberately to the locked cabinet. Mrs. Johnson never took the tests home the same day to grade. We posted lookouts to cover the doors and windows. One of us would surreptitiously breach the cabinet—jimmy the dime-store lock—or the kid with the skinniest arm would reach down from the top through the small gap of the locked cabinet doors and delicately pull out the appropriate folder—the one holding our fourth-period classmates’ completed grammar tests—the master answer sheet always at the top.
If it was multiple choice or fill in the blanks, we were in for an easy make-up exam. If it required some comprehensive writing, the kid with the quickest and neatest handwriting went to work. From execute authority to mission complete—five minutes tops. Even though we had no clue, we were executing a low-visibility hit using the same instincts, thought process, and tactical patience used by our nation’s most skilled black ops units.
Unfortunately, as much as those snippets of adolescent action provided a foundation for what I’d eventually be doing as a Delta Force operator, the lack of grounding in proper sentence structure and point of view made life miserable as I wrote
Kill Bin Laden
. I needed a ton of help. In fact, I needed an entire team of professionals. I learned quickly that there is absolutely no intrinsic crossover between leading commandos and writing about commandos.
Shifting from nonfiction to the fictional world that Kolt Raynor rolls in, things only got worse. The team of professionals, again expertly led like a SEAL Team Six commander by my editor, Marc Resnick of St. Martin’s Press, and my world-class agent, Scott Miller of Trident Media Group, took a chance on me. Like good general officers, they issued me intent and provided a task and purpose. Then they got out of the way. Write what you know, they said. No limitations, no constraints. Easy enough.
But there was still that high school English class issue. And just like a new Delta Force troop commander needs the institutional knowledge and operational mentoring of a seasoned Delta troop sergeant major, Marc and Scott went to work. In short order, the battle turned as the incredibly talented Mark Greaney joined the team.
If
Black Site
is a success, pin the medals on Marc, Scott, and Mark. They are the best in the business, passionate professionals, and they personify the
Life is good
attitude that makes the daily grind seem more pleasant than painful. Of course, if
Black Site
doesn’t get it for you, spare the team, but consider me PNG—persona non grata.
Truth be told, I was not too keen on Dalton Fury adding to the already overcrowded action thriller bookshelves. But when two high school–aged girls say “go for it,” and a wonderful wife cuts me some slack on the yard work, selling excuses is a bust. I am equally grateful and forever indebted to my family as I am to the writing team responsible for what you are holding in your hands.
Importantly, Dalton Fury and Kolt Raynor may have served in Delta’s ranks together, sneaking into one place over here and blowing the doors down at that place over there, but the similarities aren’t exact. The knock on both is that they were impetuous, leaned a little to the arrogant side, and probably never should have slipped by the shrinks in the first place. But they made the best of what God gave them, respected and relied on support personnel as much as fellow operators, and always believed that serving in Delta came with a price. Expectations that you will push the envelope, take the risk, get on target, and develop the situation: it’s a mantra that frowns on hand-wringing, hesitation, and over-thinking it. I fully embraced it in the real-world Delta Force. And even though I am not Kolt Raynor, he proudly lives it in
Black Site.
ALSO BY DALTON FURY
Kill Bin Laden: A Delta Force Commander’s Account of the Hunt for the World’s Most Wanted Man
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
BLACK SITE
. Copyright © 2012 by Dalton Fury. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Fury, Dalton.
Black site : a Delta Force novel / Dalton Fury. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-0-312-66837-2 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4299-5804-2 (e-book)
1. Soldiers—Fiction. 2. Americans—Pakistan—Fiction. 3. United States. Army. Delta Force—Fiction. I. Title
PS3606.U795B57 2012
813'.6—dc23
2011033811
eISBN 9781429958042
First Edition: January 2012
