Direct Action Mission A039 2:00 a.m., Khyber Pass, northeastern Afghanistan. Fast-roping down from the hot, oily smell of the Pave Low chopper into the Stygian darkness of a frigid ravine, seven U.S. Special Force commandos ran quickly out of the downblast over snow-dusted rocks toward a six-foot-high, three-foot-wide fissure in the sheer rock face — the mouth of the suspect cave.