“You’re certain you don’t want me to handle the doctor, Commander?”

Lachlan MacKay closed his rucksack and reined in his temper before answering. “Do you have a problem with me being in charge of this mission, English?” The last rays of afternoon sun filtered through the jungle canopy, throwing Tony Jacobs’s face into shadows enhanced by his camo paint.

Tony stared at Lachlan a moment. Then he blew out a breath that was half laugh, half snort. “I’ve got no problem with your leadership so far, Scots. What I’m concerned about is sending you into a situation where you’re clearly prejudiced. An anonymous tip and a grainy, blurry photograph isn’t enough to prove that Dr. Kirk is involved in the weapons smuggling, no matter what her mother did. With your damn fear of doctors, you’re more likely to scare her off than get any actionable intel.”

Lachlan’s hands clenched into fists. He suspected that Kristoff Wren, the man in charge of assigning missions to WAR’s military teams, had deliberately paired two of the newest members—Tony and Lachlan—on this mission precisely to test them. And clearly Kris wanted to determine if Lachlan could overcome his aversion to doctors. Which was why Lachlan couldn’t let Tony step in and handle this next bit. Lachlan needed to prove his worth before the lads would fully accept him as team leader. To earn their respect, he had to make a success of this mission.

“I’m the best choice.” Lachlan glanced around their hidden camp to make certain he wasn’t leaving anything behind. He’d scrubbed the paint from his face and changed into civilian clothes. He’d passed all weapons but his pistol and his knife over to Tony for safekeeping. His knife was military-issue, but with its worn leather hilt and sheath it could pass as an outdoorsman’s knife. The pistol at the small of his back was hidden by the loose flow of his over shirt.

“You’re equally prejudiced,” Lachlan said. “Only you’re wanting to prove the doctor innocent. My way, we’re more likely to discover the weapons faster.” He would have preferred to have a bit more research on the situation, such as the local politics, economics, and social setup, but WAR’s research department was woefully understaffed and their equipment was antiquated. He was lucky to have received a report on Layla’s Foundation, the non-profit that had built the clinic, and a background report on Dr. Kirk.

“Not buying it, mate,” Tony muttered as he slapped at an insect on his neck. “You just want the chance to sleep in a real bed while I bunk out here in the bloody jungle providing dinner to every bloodsucker in the vicinity.”

Lachlan clapped Tony on the shoulder. “Ah, lad, you’ve found me out.” He shook his head, then grinned at Tony. “But since I outrank you, there’s not much you can do about it, now is there?”

Tony grumbled something uncomplimentary that Lachlan pretended not to understand.

“Besides, it’s only for three more nights,” Lachlan pointed out. Four days ago, they’d inserted via helicopter several kilometers north of here. Searches had uncovered no signs of weapons in the two most northern villages, leaving just this last village and Dr. Kirk’s clinic as possible locations for the smuggled weapons. Unless they found a cache of weapons that would justify calling in the rest of the team early, Lachlan and Tony were scheduled to be extracted the morning after the big festival.

“Surely a fine soldier like yourself won’t melt?” Although, given the increased humidity and the gathering clouds, Tony might be in for a spot of uncomfortably bad weather. “If a monsoon blows up, perhaps I’ll be able to slip you into my quarters to protect your sensitive English skin.”

Tony made a rude gesture, then saluted, turned around, and vanished into the jungle.

Chuckling to himself, Lachlan shouldered his pack.

Fifteen minutes later, he was striding down the red dirt lane toward the medical clinic when he heard a child singing in the local language. On instinct, he moved into the protective shelter of the jungle, then remembered that he had a cover story to explain his presence. He shifted forward, then froze as a wee lass wearing a bright green and white batik dress skipped out of the jungle and onto the grassy verge not twenty meters in front of him.

Not wanting to frighten her, Lachlan decided to wait until she passed before leaving his cover.

Oblivious to Lachlan, the child swung her rag doll by one arm as she skipped along. Suddenly, she made a sound of distress and cradled the doll against her chest. Crooning soothingly to the doll, the lassie plunked herself down in one of the few remaining patches of sunlight and pulled something out of her pocket. Then she proceeded to fuss with the doll.

Lachlan sighed, inched back a bit into the trees, and prepared to wait the lassie out. Then he spotted a sinuous ripple of brilliant green and yellow slipping through the grass next to the child. With a squeal of delight, the lassie reached for the tail of the western green mamba snake.

“No!” Lachlan pulled his knife and dove out of his hiding spot.

The child grabbed the snake’s tail and the mamba whipped its head around. Lachlan sliced down with his knife, severing the snake’s head from its body milliseconds before it sank its fangs into her tender flesh.

Riding the momentum of his dive, Lachlan rolled across the grass until he was out of range of the snake’s death throes. He checked to make certain the head was completely separated from the body, then rose to his feet.

The child still had one hand outstretched toward the snake’s twitching body. With her other hand, she clutched her doll to her chest. Her big brown eyes stared up at him from a face with skin dark as coffee.

“It’s okay,” he said in the local language. “You’re safe now.”

The lassie screamed and burst into tears.

Here is a short playlist of songs that are connected to WAR: Intrusion:

1. "Not That Different" by Colin Raye sums up the struggle of Lachlan and Helen to accept one another.
2. Soundtrack to Brigadoon. The tone of many of these songs is a lot more cheerful and playful than Lachlan. But Brigadoon was one of my earliest exposures to Scotland, so writing Lachlan made me want to listen to the soundtrack again.
3. "Only the Good Die Young" by Billy Joel. Because like Virginia, Helen needs to let go a little and live.
4. "You're Only Human (Second Wind)" by Billy Joel. The message here, to hold on and wait for that second wind to sustain you, is applicable to both Lachlan and Helen, although I thought of Helen first in relationship to this song.
5. I started listening to the music of Two Steps From Hell while writing Intrusion. While I seldom listen to music while actually writing, I will occasionally listen to instrumental soundtracks or similarly inspiring music when writing action scenes. The music of Two Steps From Hell fits this bill perfectly.