Assault on Alpha Base

Chapter 12

Standing in the Chevy van’s door, Vikki pushed her hair from her eyes. The sun just peeked over the eastern range, bringing a flood of warming sunlight. It wasn’t cold enough to see her breath, but she shivered just the same. The additional five thousand feet in altitude from Wendover was more than enough to cause the chill.

The air smelled of ozone — the pine-fresh vigor of mountain living. The wind whooshed through the trees, sounding spooky. She’d almost be willing to give up everything to stay there forever.

And bury her head in the sand, ignoring the atrocities that lay waiting at Alpha Base.

No, she was too involved to back down now. She glanced at her watch and waited for the sound that would start it all.

Another ten minutes passed before she heard it. The plane’s engines bounced off the mountainsides, rolling down the meadow. The roar grew in intensity; it violated the serenity hanging in the valley. Purple and yellow flowers waved in the fields, seeming to beckon the plane on.

Suddenly, the plane popped over the crest line. It dove for the meadow, making an impossible turn, flying past trees and house-size boulders. Engines roaring, the black C-130 seemed to fall from the sky.

Cliffs guarded one end of the meadow. A gentle slope led to a lake, ringed with trees, at the opposite end. The four-engine craft dropped for the pond.

Its wheels barely clipped the treetops. The plane hit the edge of the meadow and bounced twice. Its engines shook the ground as they reversed, slowing the low-slung craft. Dust and decapitated flowers sprayed up into the air, covering the airplane in a fog of debris.

Vikki squinted and placed a hand over her eyes. The C-130 transport emerged from the dust. It traveled the mile stretch, reaching the end of the meadow, and turning just before reaching the cliffs.

When Harding told her of the mercenary’s C-130, Vikki consulted Jane’s All the World’s Aircraft to find out for herself about the squat four-engined transport. An ultrareliable troop carrier, the model L-100-3 °C-130 Hercules “stretch Herky bird” played many roles. It carried troops, airlifted supplies, dropped twenty-thousand-pound bombs, inserted airborne rangers, recovered satellites, scooped up pails of water from the ocean — the list was almost endless. Obtained from a second party, the elongated civilian version of the military C-130 was as much of a legend as the old “Gooney Bird.”

Vikki’s eyebrows rose; she was impressed. She had had her doubts about using the remote mountain meadow as a staging area, but any second thoughts were dashed by seeing the transport’s performance. She lowered her hands, pulled her jacket closer to her, and stepped down from the van.

A door opened from the C-130’s side. A tall, erect man dressed in khaki jumped nimbly from the craft as it slowed to a halt. Anthony Harding followed. He stumbled slightly. The tall man steadied him and they both jogged to Vikki. The engines slowed, falling in pitch.

The man flashed Vikki a smile. He slapped his hands together to keep them warm as they approached. “Ms. Osborrn?” She nodded. “I’m Colonel Macklin Renault. Is everything ready?”

Vikki nodded, her mouth tight.

“The moving van?”

“It’s outside my apartment.”

Harding reached into the back and pulled a jacket from the van. He asked, “What about the call signs?”

Vikki reached into the front and dug a sheet of paper from the glove compartment. She handed it over to Renault. “These are valid until tomorrow night. As I told Anthony, Wendover is expecting a C-130 from Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado to land and refuel at eleven o’clock tonight. You have to be on time to get there before him.”

Renault studied the sheet, then folded it and placed it in his top pocket. “Good. We’ll have half an hour before anyone discovers there are two C-130’s. By that time my C-130 will be gone and the attack will be under way.”

Harding blew on his hands, trying to warm them in the morning cold. “Might as well have your men get out and relax, Colonel. They’re not going anywhere for a while.”

Renault paid Harding sparse attention. He scanned the mountains that formed a near-perfect bowl around them. “Have you seen anybody up here?”

“No.”

“I don’t like this. We’re too much in the open.” He turned and studied the trees. “There’s not enough foliage to cover the plane. We’ll have to pull out the camouflage.” He started for the C-130.

Harding ignored him and climbed into the van. Vikki frowned, and ran after Renault. “What’s going on?” She caught up with him. Renault took long strides, not slowing down for Vikki.

“The aircraft stands out like a sore thumb. If anyone sees it, it will blow our cover.”

“I told you we’re alone.”

“If you made it here, Ms. Osborrn, then anyone else could, too. But it’s not the hikers or campers I’m worried about. It’s what’s up in the air. We flew in low enough to avoid radar, but now that we’re on the ground, the whole area is probably under a random satellite surveillance, designed to spot any infiltration such as this.”

“But the plane is in the shadows.”

“That doesn’t stop it from emitting in the infrared. We’ve got to get some cover on it.” They reached the combat door. Renault swung aboard and Vikki followed seconds later.

As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she counted fifty men lining the front side of the transport. They sat on webbed pallet seating, watching her in silence. A vehicle took up half the back of the stretched C-130. APC — Armored Personnel Carrier, she thought. She had done her homework well. She’d also made sure she knew everything about their weapons.

Constructed of a composite hull, the APC was originally designed for use by the Marines. Ceramic tiles were sandwiched in between an outer aluminum skin and an inner skin of reinforced fiberglass. When an armor-piercing shell tried to penetrate the APC’s body, the tiles would shatter, diffusing the shell’s energy through its body.

Renault ran a hand proudly across the APC’s body; his demeanor seemed to suddenly change. “You can thank your military-industrial complex for this, Ms. Osborrn. One or two simple bribes, and its delivery to a third party was never accomplished. I wonder how many more we could have ordered before we were caught.”

Vikki answered coolly, “If you’re so against our military-industrial complex, Colonel, then why aren’t you doing this for free?”

Renault scowled. Turning, he snapped an order.

A crew of five men scurried to the rear, squeezing past the APC. A jump door opened in the back, allowing light to peek into the darkened aircraft. Grunting, the men pushed a large bag across the deck and out the hatch. Dust billowed up when it hit the ground.

Stepping outside, Vikki backed away from the C-130. The crew pulled a camouflaged mesh from the bag.

Renault bellowed at the troops in the plane. Men poured out to help cover the C-130 with the mesh-like material.

Ten of the men rolled a hose and pump down to the lake. After the mesh was in place, two men took turns pumping water by cranking on a long lever. As pressure built up, Renault directed the water onto the C-130’s engines. Steam rose as the water hit the hot metal.

Twenty minutes later the men retired to the trees. Even though the morning air was still chilly, they peeled off their shirts, sweating from the exertion.

From the van the C-130 resembled a lump of dark wet cloth. Renault explained how the water had cooled the plane enough to prevent infrared hot spots. “If they study their satellite photos close enough, they’ll find us, but the mesh will hide us from a casual look. The water should have cooled it down enough not to warrant an additional high-resolution photograph.”

Renault went over the plan with Harding and Vikki, hammering out details. When everyone was satisfied, Renault suggested that they try and catch up on some sleep. The night was going to be a long one.

Harding and Vikki climbed in the back of the Chevy van. Renault’s men spread out to nap under the trees. Within minutes the meadow was deserted. Vikki and Harding could have been alone in the mountains if they didn’t know better. Inside the van, Harding fumbled around the wheel well. He cursed moments later.

“Where’s the dope?”

Vikki wordlessly reached for the grass she had hidden.

Harding quickly rolled a joint, licked the length of it, and lit up. After several hits he leaned back and offered it to her. She shook her head. Harding drew in another breath of marijuana. He studied Vikki before asking, “What’s wrong?”

Silence. Vikki looked away, then said, “Nothing.”

Harding allowed her to sit quietly as he toked. “I haven’t seen you this quiet for years.”

Vikki shrugged. “Just thinking.” About McGriffin? she thought. No, that wasn’t it — even though McGriffin would have never have been so … grating. She brushed back her hair. “After all this time, talking, planning … I just hope we can pull it off.”

“You covered your part, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“And if Britnell is as stupid as you say, we’ve got it made.” He held out the marijuana to her. Again she shook her head.

Harding frowned and let the smoke curl up from his mouth. “You aren’t falling for that kid, are you?”

Vikki’s eyes flashed. “I told you—”

“Okay, that’s enough.” Harding leaned back. He shook his head. “I don’t know. You’ve been acting strange lately — preoccupied.”

“We’re only taking on the largest nuclear weapons repository in the free world, and you expect me not to be preoccupied?” Vikki curled up in one corner of the van, shutting her eyes and using one of the duffel bags thrown in the rear as a pillow. A moment passed. Harding stirred, then she felt a hand on her shoulder. He kissed her cheek.

“It’s been a long time … ” His hand moved down and cupped her breast.

She didn’t move. Harding kissed her again. When she didn’t respond, he moved away.

Vikki waited, tense. Moments later his breathing deepened. She felt the tension drain from her, then started trembling.

The pressures from the past few weeks seemed to cascade around her. Britnell, Anthony, she thought. It seemed like they’d forgotten she could do anything but have sex. McGriffin had been the only one she could relax with, the only one who hadn’t threatened her.

And she didn’t even know him.

As she fell asleep, she felt she didn’t even know herself.