Afghanistan's one advantage was that you didn't need to follow any traffic laws. There were no paved roads — just endless clouds of dust kicked up by the vehicles, with the occasional pile of livestock dung baking by the roadside. The stench carried on the wind was unbearable for anyone, male or female.
Daisy rolled up her window early and coordinated the operation via radio.
Jimmy, the Pashto speaker, rode in the lead vehicle to handle any interactions along the way.
Daisy sat in the second vehicle, directing the operation.
Rhodey brought up the rear in the third vehicle.
The Global Hawk had been dispatched ahead for advance reconnaissance.
Bobbi was driving. Daisy sat in the passenger seat, staring absently at the desert. The first two times they'd found a "Korami," she'd sworn up and down that success was right around the corner. She wouldn't be making that guarantee again.
"Daisy, are you heading back to the States for Christmas, or staying out here?" Bobbi asked casually as she drove.
In her mind, Christmas was the most important holiday of the year. Someone like Daisy surely had plenty to deal with during the holiday season. No way she'd stick around in this godforsaken wasteland searching for some billionaire.
They'd been searching for over a month now. Bobbi didn't believe Tony Stark — a pampered playboy — could survive this long in hostile territory.
"Christmas, huh?" The question stirred something melancholy in Daisy. She didn't really have a tradition of celebrating Christmas. But thinking about it reminded her of last year, when she'd spent the holiday with Hill. Now their relationship had been clouded by professional rivalry.
Hill had been avoiding her. Six months since she'd last set foot at headquarters.
Daisy was good at controlling her emotions. She shoved the unpleasant thoughts aside quickly. When she thought about it, pulling the team back for Christmas wasn't a bad idea.
At this point, everyone in the unit except her and Rhodey probably assumed Tony Stark was already dead. Keeping them out here in the wilderness, fighting tribal militants over a dead man and missing Christmas — that was a cardinal sin in the eyes of American soldiers.
If she forced the issue, Daisy estimated half the team would desert. The other half would file complaints with the Pentagon about human rights violations, lack of democracy, authoritarianism, and every other grievance they could think of.
Why make herself the villain?
She got on the radio to discuss it with Rhodey. If this latest Korami turned up nothing, they'd head back to base for Christmas and resume the search afterward.
Rhodey was active-duty military. He could see the discontent among his people. He was under even more pressure than Daisy. After a brief hesitation, he agreed.
When the soldiers heard the news, they erupted in cheers. They'd had more than enough of this hellhole.
Daisy smiled and nodded, graciously accepting a flood of compliments.
She turned to gaze out the window, wondering what she'd do for Christmas.
Hm? Mid-daydream, something caught her attention. The terrain around them had become abnormally desolate.
There were no signs of human or animal activity — not even a single bird in the sky.
The air carried something that made her heart clench. The primal instincts granted by the Panther Goddess's blessing screamed at her to flee — as far and as fast as possible.
"Everyone shut up! Stop the vehicles! Stop NOW!" She halted the convoy immediately.
The soldiers, who'd been celebrating moments ago, didn't know what was happening. But the dead-serious look on her face made them hit the brakes.
Daisy climbed onto the roof of the tactical vehicle and scanned the horizon. She couldn't see anything.
But the dread sat on her chest like a thundercloud, nearly stealing her voice.
"What is it, Daisy?" Rhodey had grown familiar enough with her to use her first name.
She ignored him, looking left and right. Everything in sight was barren and lifeless — jagged rocks, not a hint of anything living.
She called over Jimmy — the Tennessee kid who just wanted to go home and get married.
"Is this the route that tribal elder gave you?"
Jimmy confirmed it twice, absolutely certain. "This is the route."
"Something's wrong. Something is very wrong..." she muttered to herself, then turned to her agents. "What is the Global Hawk picking up ahead?"
"Ma'am, there's heavy interference here. Signal transmission is extremely slow." The agent pulled up the reconnaissance feed. Daisy leaned in immediately — and sure enough, the transmitted image was completely distorted. Nothing recognizable.
"Check the local magnetic field. There might be mineral deposits nearby that—" Before she could finish, the display went black.
"Ma'am, the Global Hawk's positioning signal just disappeared!"
Her stomach dropped. Had someone shot it down? Or had it crashed into a mountainside?
When Rhodey heard the drone was potentially lost, a wave of pain washed over his face. If they rescued Stark, fine. But if they couldn't — or if the man was already dead — who was going to pay for that?
Daisy didn't have time for Rhodey's financial anxieties. She ordered the convoy to reverse immediately, to get away from this area.
Earlier, every tribal elder, herder, and child she'd sensed through her vibration field had radiated hostility toward them. She'd grown so accustomed to it that she hadn't noticed anything unusual. Now she was almost certain: that tribal elder had played them. There was a nightmare of a trap waiting ahead.
"We're not going to recover the Global Hawk? Even if it crashed, we need to retrieve the wreckage!" Rhodey grabbed her arm.
Daisy hesitated. A Global Hawk was worth a fortune...
But she gritted her teeth. "I'll pay for it personally. We're leaving now. Something is seriously wrong here."
Rhodey could see she was dead serious, and a chill ran through him. Still, he was a stand-up guy. "I can't let you pay for it out of pocket. I'll take the blame..."
Daisy couldn't be bothered arguing over liability. She'd extended her vibrations deep underground toward the distant mountains and found something that could only be described as terrifying — a concentrated mass of energy like a nuclear reactor on the verge of going critical. Her senses told her it wasn't a reactor at all, but something far smaller.
Something that somewhat resembled a person.
She immediately cut off her vibrations, grabbed Rhodey, pulled him into her vehicle, and floored it.
Whoever — or whatever — that "person" was, she absolutely could not fight it.
Stark could wait. Survival came first.
The soldiers didn't know what was happening, but they followed orders. Vehicles turned. Engines roared. The convoy raced back the way it came.
The soldiers didn't need an explanation, but Rhodey did. She owed him at least a few words.
Daisy chose her words carefully as she tried to work out who was hiding in those mountains. Kamar-Taj sat atop the world's highest peak, so the Ancient One could be ruled out.
Odin was on Asgard playing All-Father. Even if he vacationed on Earth, he'd stick to Scandinavia — not Afghanistan. The other Skyfather-tier deities wouldn't be training in some remote underground cavern either.
And it certainly wasn't Jean Grey or Apocalypse or any other mutant.
Afghanistan. The Ten Rings. Stark. She connected the keywords, and only one name fit: the Mandarin. Not the impostor — the real Mandarin, the one who wore all ten rings.