Deep Black

44

“What the hell’s going on, Karr? Where are you?” Lia hissed.

“Building Two. Aren’t you watching?”

“I’m still trying to get the feed from the Bagel.”

“Just use the sitrep. Did you get all the weapons loaded?”

“Of course.”

“Did Fashona bitch about the jacks?”

“Is the pope Catholic?”

Specially designed trolleys and hydraulic jacks were used to load the weapons pods onto the wings. While these machines did all the heavy lifting, they had to be positioned just so beneath the hard points; it was not a job for an impatient man, and inevitably left the pilot in a foul mood.

Lia clicked into the map, which showed Karr’s and Dean’s positions. Dean was on Building One, moving toward the side.

Christ, the bastards were going to throw him off.

“We’re coming in,” she said.

“Just hold on,” Karr told her. “Let me find Martin first.”

“They’re going to kill Dean.”

“Relax. They’ll question him before they kill him.”

“Jesus.”

“Don’t go postal, honey.”

“Postal? You’re fuckin’ hyperventilating.”

“I’m out of breath. Look, you guys have to stay on schedule or you’ll get nailed by the SA-6. Wait until they take out the van. I’ll get Martin, then I’ll bail out Dean.”

She bounced back to the sit map, which showed the team’s location.

“Karr.”

“You have ten minutes. You can’t sit tight until then?”

She was worried about Dean. She was really worried about Dean.

Would she have worried so much about Karr?

Damn straight.

Maybe.

“Take out the guns, then get the two guards on the inside of the gate, in case they have shoulder-launched SAMs,” Karr reminded her.

“I know my fucking job.”

“Then do it,” he said. “Gotta go.”

His channel remained open. Lia pressed the mike button for the helicopter’s interphone. “Ray—”

“I heard,” said the pilot. “The SA-6 van blows in seven and a half minutes.”

“God, they’ll be dead before we get there.”

“Probably not.”

“Shit, Ray, go! Let’s go now — we can take it out ourselves.”

“If you want to get out and push, be my guest. If not, we do it the way Tommy drew it up.”

“If Dean and Karr die in there, I swear to God, I’ll never talk to you again,” she said.

“Yeah, well, they ain’t going to die, so don’t get your hopes up.”