Ambush

25

The blast knocked Murdock down, and for a minute or two he didn’t know where he was or what had happened. He lay on the cold stone floor gagging and coughing. His eyes were glued shut with dust, and for a moment he thought he was blind. Slowly he realized that it had been a bomb near the entrance. He couldn’t hear a thing. He shook his head and wiped gently at his eyes. He shook the dirt and dust off his cammy shirt and wiped at his eyes with it. Slowly he could see faint light.

Light, there should be lots of light near the mouth of the cave. He had been only twenty feet from the outside. His head hurt like it had been stomped by a herd of elephants. He blinked, wiped his eyes again, and felt the pain of the dust in them. Slowly he wiped them again and tried to look at the light. Yes, there was some still coming in the mouth of the cave. A hole near where the top had been. Rubble, rocks, dirt everywhere.

“Hello inside,” a voice called. Then a shadow at the hole. “Are you all right in there? We’re digging out this hole for you to make it larger. Can you answer me?”

Murdock looked at the hole and the shadow and wanted to yell back, but his voice didn’t work well. He was choked up with the dust. He croaked out some words, but he couldn’t hear them. At least his hearing was coming back a little. Next, maybe, his voice. He tired to stand, made it on the second try, and slowly worked his way toward the hole. It was a mountain of shattered rocks and dirt. He climbed and climbed, and when his strength had almost given out, he pushed one hand through the opening. Someone grabbed it.

“Hello, we have a live one here,” Jaybird bellowed out. “Hang tight there, man, we’re going to get you out of there in a few minutes.”

More than fifty yards behind the entrance, the six hostages and the two SEALs had all been knocked down by the force of the blast. They were still spitting dust out of their mouths and coughing and wheezing in the dusty air.

Lam was on his feet first. He brushed off his uniform, then began helping the people up.

“Yes, the other bomb, but we’re okay. Everyone is fine here, right? Nobody broke anything. Good. Now, we’ll all get up and walk on up to the mouth of the cave. You bet we’re going to get out. We have two platoons outside who will move half the mountain if they have to, in order to get us out. We all ready to move?”

“Yeah, ready,” Ching said. He picked up the woman he had been carrying. She had revived and was asking questions. Ching didn’t bother to answer them; he just carried her forward. The rest of them walked carefully in the tiny twin beams of the pencil flashlights.

Murdock sat beside the hole and slowly pulled himself together. Somebody was talking on the other side of the hole.

“Water,” he said, and then said it again. He reached out through the hole and grabbed a hand and pulled the person closer. “Water,” he croaked, and Jaybird understood him. He gave him his canteen, and Murdock took a mouthful and washed his mouth and spat. Then he swallowed some, then some more. He tried talking again.

“Who’s out there?” he asked.

“Skipper, it’s Jaybird. We’re moving rocks and dirt here to make the hole bigger. Glad they didn’t use one more quarter-pound on that entranceway, or we’d be looking for a bulldozer. You okay, Skipper?”

“Could be better. I’ll move some of these damn rocks.”

Murdock began to pull away rocks from his side of the opening. Five minutes later, when Lam and Ching brought up the hostages, the hole was big enough to sit in and slide through. The hostages went first, then Murdock and Lam, with Ching bringing up the rear. Lam looked up at the brilliant blue sky.

“Oh, yes, daylight, what a wonderful invention.”

Murdock clambered down the pile of smashed rocks and dirt from the top of the cave opening, and sat down under a tree. He washed his mouth out again and blew his nose half a dozen times. The air still didn’t seem clear. The headache wouldn’t go away. Mahanani looked him over and gave him some pills for the headache, then went to look at the hostages.

General Domingo came up.

“Glad you made it, Murdock. You must have been close to the front when it went off. We gave up trying to find the charges. They must have hidden them well. Now, a few matters. We didn’t see anyone coming out of the mountain. The other cave mouth must be highly concealed. We have six hostages here, so we’re still six short.

“We have eight or ten prisoners inside we need to go in and untie and walk out. Juan will work with them until we find out where the rest of the hostages were taken. The next cave would be too easy. I’m sure that Al Hillah had a better backup plan than that.

“I’ve sent the hostages down to the chopper. One of my men will go with each one to assist. Once they are at Lebak, we’ll arrange to fly them to Davao, then on their way. I still can’t believe we lost that helicopter.” He frowned.

Murdock thought of it at the same time. “Right, we never did find that fifty-caliber MG inside the cave. They must have taken it with them. I hope they don’t mount that on the armored personnel carrier one of the rebels said they have. Why haven’t we seen it before now?”

Domingo grinned. “Yes, Commander, you must be feeling better. Glad that blast didn’t shatter you into pieces. I’ve got to get some things done.”

DeWitt had taken over the platoon, and they were moving most of the rocks from the opening. “We still have to get the prisoners out of there after they wake up,” DeWitt said. “The general and I figured it would be easier to let them wake up than to carry them out.”

Mahanani hovered around Murdock like a bantam hen. “Wondering if you had a concussion in there when that beauty blew,” the hospital corpsman said. “If that headache doesn’t go away, we’ll see if there’s a doctor in Lebak.”

“Get out of here and get to work,” Murdock growled.

Mahanani grinned. “Yeah, now that sounds more like my Skipper.”

The helicopter took off shortly, and in fifteen minutes it was back. General Domingo sent all of the SEALs back on the next trip, and said he’d keep his men there and bring out the prisoners as they woke up. He borrowed Murdock’s two-cell Maglite.

Back in their warehouse home in Lebak, the men settled into their bunks and cleaned their weapons. Mahanani brought two-ounce shots of the liberated whiskey and gave them to Murdock and Lam and Ching.

“Medicinal purposes only,” Mahanani said. Murdock downed his in one long pull, shook his head, and then frowned.

“Now, all we have to do is find out where that damned Muhammad went and rescue the other six hostages,” said Murdock. “Any ideas?”

Lam shook his head. “Hard telling. Where can he go? He’s lost the rock house up on the ridge. We busted that, and next he went to his own lair, the Eagle’s Nest. We kicked his ass there. Next he fell back to the cave with the built-in generator and bombs. What has he left? He’s going to need supplies, food if nothing else. Hell, maybe he checked into the local hotel and ordered up room service.”

They kicked around where he might go. The villages were out. They didn’t have enough food to feed him, and there were no defenses. There wasn’t any place he could fall back to.

Murdock shook his head. “I don’t know, maybe that bomb shook up my brains more than usual, but I keep thinking that Lam might have something there. Lebak here is the only place he could come where he might fit in and not be noticed at least for a while. He could buy or steal food here for his men.”

“I told you guys this man is brilliant,” Jaybird yelped. “I’ve known it all along.”

The rest of them thought it over and heads began to nod.

Murdock grinned. “So, after you guys get washed up and your weapons cleaned, I want you to go in twos all over this small town and talk to people and see if they have noticed anything unusual, like ten or fifteen people suddenly showing up in a house or a store or an old warehouse. Git on your horses and move. Maybe when you get back, we’ll have figured out some chow for you.”

Murdock went outside to see the men on their rounds. That was when he saw a CH-46 drop into the LZ and power down. He went over and talked with the pilot.

“We have some more hostages for you to take to Davao,” Murdock said, “but General Domingo will tell you about that. You bring anything for me?”

“How about a radio,” the pilot said, and handed Murdock a SATCOM complete with antenna.

“Oh, yes, we’ve been needing that. Thanks.”

Murdock took the SATCOM back to the warehouse, and set it up and called Don Stroh on his special frequency. He connected on the second call.

“Hey, Mr. Banana out there, how is it peeling?” Stroh asked.

“By the bunch. We just liberated six more hostages, but we’re short on the final six. Trying to get a sighting on where they might be. So far no more problems. You know we lost Train Khai.”

“Yes, I heard from your CO in Coronado. At least on this one we don’t have to make up a death story. You guys have been all over the international press, TV, newspapers, everything. The rescue mission is in the clear and you’ll have a scrapbook of clippings by the time you get home.”

“I didn’t know that, Stroh. Then maybe we can get another dozen Bull Pups and six more EAR guns.”

Stroh laughed. “Probably not, but I’ll try. I’m still here in Davao. The brass here wouldn’t let me come to Lebak. I could have grabbed a forty-six, but decided against it. They don’t even have a five-star hotel there, as I understand.”

“You’re right there, Stroh. Just wanted to check in. We have our SATCOM back. It was lost for a spell. You take care. Don’t call us, we’ll call you.”

They signed off. Murdock went outside the quarters looking for any of his men. Jaybird and Lam came in, but were empty-handed.

“Nobody we talked to had seen anyone or anything unusual. They all asked at once if we meant the rebels, and we said yes. The rebels are not well liked in this town.”

Murdock called the general on the Motorola, but he was too far away to be reached.

A short time later the bird that was at the cave came back with six of the Rangers and three prisoners who were awake and with their hands tied behind their backs. Juan was along, and he and the rebels vanished into a shed behind the warehouse.

“Looks like it’s question-and-answer time,” Jaybird said. “I want to go watch.”

Murdock shrugged. “You might pick up some pointers on how to torture a prisoner for longer periods of time without killing him.”

Jaybird lifted his brows. “Hey, maybe I’ll watch the next time.”

It was almost dark when the forty-six landed with the final group of prisoners and General Domingo and the rest of his men. They tied the prisoners, pushed them into the shed, and locked the doors.

Later, Juan came out and shook his head. “So far we have learned nothing about where Muhammad might have gone. We were told he had that armored personnel carrier, and we know he has that fifty-caliber MG. We just don’t know where he is.”

Domingo scowled and nodded. “Let’s take a fresh look at it in the morning. Not much else we can do tonight.”

Murdock told the general about their idea that Muhammad had retreated right into Lebak.

“He could be hiding in a dozen buildings around here,” Murdock said. The general agreed.

“I’ll put my men on a four-hour shift shaking down this town,” he said. “If he’s here, or if anyone knows anything about him, we’ll find out.”

By 2200 the Rangers hadn’t turned up any evidence of the rebel leader, his men, or his equipment. Everyone called it a day and hit the sack. Breakfast would be at 0600.

After breakfast at the improvised mess hall, Murdock went to the structure behind their warehouse and checked on the interrogation. Juan had a knack for it, knowing which of the ten prisoners to question in depth and which ones to dismiss. The lot had been narrowed down to two men. Juan thought both of them knew more than they were saying.

He concentrated on one. “We know where your mother and your wife and twin daughters live,” Juan said. The man looked over with a frown, but said nothing. He sat tied to a chair, his hands behind his back.

“I will release you as soon as you tell me where Muhammad has gone. You know. I can see it in your eyes, and the eyes never lie. This is the big picture. You either tell me where Muhammad has gone to, or you die where you sit. Quite simple really. You tell me, and I release you and you can walk out the door a free man, with civilian clothes, and go back to your mother and family right here in Lebak.”

The man turned, his face a mask of terror.

“Don’t hurt my family.”

“Tell us where the evil rebel, Muhammad, has gone.”

“He would kill me.”

“He won’t have the chance. He will never know. Besides, his power is shattered. He has lost the rock house, the Eagle’s Nest, and even the hidden cave. Now he is hiding like a snake in the jungle. He has no men, no power. He is a sniveling coward, using men like you to promote himself for his own ends.”

“No, he says we will be better off.”

“What has he given you besides the misery of being a rebel, of being shot at and chased and interrogated? What has he done for you?”

The man started to cry. He looked at Juan and back at the second man, who also sat tied to a chair. The man had blood dripping down his cheeks and off his chest. He had been tortured for an hour before Juan left him and moved to this man.

“I’m not sure where he is. There was a place we were to run to if we lost the fight at the caves. He said the big machine gun would stop anything the Army could throw at us. It didn’t.”

“Where is the hiding spot?” Juan asked.

The man took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “He said go to the church here in Lebak and ask for asylum. The priest there could not deny us entry.”

Juan thought about it a moment, then nodded. “Yes, that sounds like something this infidel would do.” Juan pointed to two Rangers. “Keep him here, as he is. We’ll see if he’s telling the truth.”

He and Murdock left the building and ran back to the warehouse, where General Domingo studied a map of the area. He glowered at the news of where Muhammad might be.

“We’ll take all our men,” he said. “We move up from all four sides of the church and the small rectory. Then I’ll go knock on the door and talk to the priest.”

Murdock called his men up, told them to come fully equipped with weapons and combat vests, and they marched out in patrol order.

The Catholic church sat on a lot of its own with no other buildings around it. The rectory perched beside it. Since this was a poor village town, the church was modest, a wooden structure painted white with a gleaming cross over the two-story building.

SEALs took the south and west sides of the church, finding hiding places and cover up to fifty yards from the structure. Rangers covered the other two sides. When all were in place, General Domingo walked up to the church and knocked on the door. No one answered. He checked his watch, then opened the door and walked inside. He was alone.

Murdock’s men were closest to the church door. “If we hear any shots, even one, we’re charging that door. Alpha Squad on the front door, Bravo take the side and back doors.”

They listened, but heard nothing.

Inside the church, the general took off his floppy hat and looked around. No people. Only some candles burning at the altar.

“Hello,” he called. A moment later he called again.

A small priest in his clerical dress came from a door near the front, saw the general, and hurried up.

“I’m so glad you came. They were here all night, but are gone now. They ate everything in the rectory and made me go get more food. There were seven rebels and six hostages. They said if I told anyone they were here, they would shoot me.”

“When did they leave, Father?”

“At daybreak. They hurried out the door and toward the river. I watched them. They went north along the highway. I couldn’t see them far.”

“North?” Domingo thought about it a moment, nodded, and thanked the priest, then hurried outside.

Murdock relaxed when he saw the general. Domingo called the troops together and told them what the priest had said.

Juan frowned and spoke up at once. “I need to do more work on our rebel captive.”

“We haven’t heard anything about the APC,” Murdock said. “We should check with the townspeople to see if they have seen the armored carrier anywhere. If he has it, that might be a last resort.”

Domingo motioned for Juan to go back to the warehouse. The general nodded. “Yes, Commander. A good idea. We’ll use all of our men to canvass the whole damn town. We can do it in two hours. Officers, assign your men to the areas and let’s get asking questions.”

The survey wasn’t total, but Murdock figured they talked to people in at least eighty percent of the buildings and houses. An hour later one of the Rangers came on his Motorola.

“We have a sighting of the APC,” he said. “A man saw it come out of a garage building just before daylight and drive toward the highway. You can still see where the treads tore up the street.”

Five minutes later Domingo and the others looked at the track marks on the soft dirt street, and followed them to the highway. The driver had angled into his turn before he hit the blacktop, giving away the direction he would go on the hard surface. He had turned north.

“Back to the helicopters,” Domingo barked. They all jogged three blocks to the improvised LZ.

“Once that machine turns off the hard-surface road, we’ll be able to see the marks the tracks make and follow him. Everyone with full combat gear and ready to take off in five minutes,”

Murdock’s men were ready. They loaded in one of the two helicopters waiting. Soon the Rangers arrived and crowded into the other bird, and they both took off.

The choppers flew low and slow. One bird watched the surf side of the highway; the other chopper did the same on the mountain side. They worked out two miles, retraced the area to be sure it was clear of any tread tracks, and moved on down the highway. Twice more they doubled back to check their work. By the time they were about six miles out from the town, Domingo used his Motorola.

“We have a turn. Plain as day the tracks come off the road and go up a narrow dirt lane.”

“Here we should get cautious, General,” Murdock said. “Remember those RPGs they have and the fifty. How about some altitude and a high-level survey first to see what we can find. Must be some buildings up here.”

“Yes, Commander. I agree. I was getting too anxious. Let’s go up to two thousand feet and see what we can find. There should be some buildings here somewhere.” The birds circled as they climbed, and Domingo used binoculars as he tracked the vehicle below.

Murdock said the rebels should have known better. Someone on the ground fired an RPG at the choppers at their two-thousand-foot altitude. Not a chance the grenade would get that high. Even before it reached its zenith and turned down, Murdock had put two rounds of 20mm into the area where the smoke trail showed that the rocket had been fired from.

He had shot out the side door, and had no idea if he hit the rebel below.

“At least we know we’re on the right track,” Murdock said. They circled another five hundred feet higher, remembering the fifty-caliber weapon somewhere below. The plain here was three miles wide before the mountains lifted up in a gentle series of hills.

“I’ve still got the tracks,” Domingo said. “They turn off the road and leave a highway of broken shrubs and plants through the small growth of trees. But I don’t see any buildings. Yes, there, just ahead. Looks like an old ranch house that the jungle has taken over. Could be some livable places inside.”

“Incoming,” Murdock bellowed. He pushed his Bull Pup out the forty-six’s door and got off one round at the wisps of blue smoke coming from a small clearing below.

“Got to be the fifty MG,” Murdock said. “Get us the hell out of here,” Murdock bellowed at the pilot. “He’s got a mile range with that fucker.”

The chopper jolted to the left and then the right as it dropped quickly to get out of any firing pattern.

The bird Domingo was in had tried the same maneuver, but the other way. “We’re hit,” Domingo shouted into the Motorola.