Bloodstorm

26

Back in their quarters in the NATO base, the SEALs had showers, fresh uniforms, and various kinds of food service. Then it was sack time. It had been a long day.

After his shower, Murdock reported to his control, Admiral Tanning. The admiral was showing some wear and tear, Murdock decided. Not the usual zip. He wiped one hand across his face and waved Murdock into a chair.

“Good work in Kabul. That’s one more down. Now we’re worried about what else went on with that Athens relay. We’ve had a team of six men working the airport. By now we have chapter and verse on the terrorist chopper when it came in and what happened to the warheads. At least one of them went to Afghanistan. The word we have now is that there was one more warhead and we have three possibilities where it went. It was shipped out within minutes after it hit the airport here.”

“Three different countries, Admiral?”

“As of this morning. We have since eliminated one of them, so we’re down to two. Which doesn’t help us one hell of a lot until we get down to the country who bought it from the smugglers.

“There was a lot of action by Libyan aircraft about that time, but we’ve ruled them out as participants. They were burned twice and must have decided to pass on chance three. Which leaves us with Syria and Lebanon. They had planes and agents all over that airport landing area. It could be either one. From what we have learned, it looked like both were supposed to get goods, but there was only one warhead available. One got it, one didn’t.”

“So how do we find out which is which?”

“Diplomacy, old man. Diplomacy.”

“Which means spies. Do we have any in either of those countries?”

“NATO doesn’t, but the CIA certainly does. Deep cover, way down there, and reliable. We’ve used them before. With any luck we’ll have a report before breakfast call.”

Murdock closed his eyes and shook his head. “Excuse me, Admiral, but it’s been a long day. We had two casualties, a walking wounded and a more serious one. Kat took a round through her leg and picked up a ricochet scrape on her shoulder. She says she’s operational, but we’ll see.”

“Commander, get out of here. You need some sack time. Sleep in tomorrow. I’ll let you know if we have a definite on one country or the other. You have anyone who speaks Arabic?”

“Two of us, Admiral. We might need to go with just a pair. Talk more about it tomorrow. With the admiral’s permission?”

“Good night, Commander. Sleep well.”

Murdock did.

He slept in until almost seven the next morning, showered, and had breakfast before he headed to the admiral’s office.

Admiral Tanning worked on some papers as Murdock came into his office. Murdock stood at attention until the admiral looked up.

“Murdock, yes. I sent a man looking for you. Sit down. Our spooks have found something. They can’t say for sure, but they are ninety-percent positive that one warhead was taken into Syria. Those are not the most friendly folks.”

“Do we have any kind of a location where the warhead might be?”

“Our people there say that anything of importance winds up in Damascus in southwestern Syria.”

“When do we go in?”

“As soon as you’re ready. Is Kat well enough to go?”

“She will think so. I’ll have to decide.”

“Look at this map. No good entry point except by air. We can fly you over Israel and the Golan Heights and into southern Syria. Exfiltration would be the same route except by land. No chance we can put a chopper in there to get you out.”

“Looks like a long walk.”

“Forty miles to the tip of Israel.”

“Maybe we can find a camel. I better get the troops moving.”

Murdock did a snappy about-face and hurried out to the SEALs’ temporary dayroom.

Half the men were there, most clustered around Don Stroh, their CIA hand-holder.

“You already know,” Murdock said, looking at Stroh.

“Hey, I’m CIA, I’m supposed to know. Syria. Only two of the guys speak Arabic. You want me to go along on this one?”

“Sure, Stroh. Check out your parachute and your H&K 21A1 machine gun.”

Stroh grinned. “Hey, I was just kidding. You jumping in?”

“About the only way.” Murdock looked for Ed Dewitt. The Bravo Squad leader was at a far table studying maps. He looked up and came over when Murdock signaled.

“We’ll be going with Bravo Squad on this one,” said Murdock, “with Kat, if she’s able, and me. Khai and Franklin know the language, so they’ll be our point men. We have a contact in Damascus who should give us some direction. Other than that, we’re on our own. We hike out once we spike the warhead. Any questions?”

“Transport?” DeWitt asked.

“Admiral Tanning is having it arranged. It won’t be our usual Black Duck, but some other C-130 that has been minimally outfitted for insertion work over hostile territory.”

“Wonder where our Black Duck is,” Jaybird asked.

“Probably swimming upstream without a paddle,” Vincent Van Dyke chirped, and they all laughed. That broke some of the tension that had been building up since Stroh came in the room.

“So, how much time do we have,” Senior Chief Dobler asked.

“We’re calling it,” Murdock said. “Whenever we’re ready. Jaybird, see if you can find Kat. Don’t tell her about the mission because I’ve decided she’s not jumping on that shot-up leg.”

“Everyone from Bravo Squad here?” Senior Chief Dobler asked. DeWitt looked around.

“I need two. Jefferson, flush them out wherever they are. Their bunks, or the PX. Move.”

“Sounds like we better stick to regular ammo, so we don’t bog down somewhere,” DeWitt said. “Ostercamp, get your SATCOM and check it out. Just a quick run-through. Let’s get our gear squared away, Bravo. I want you all ready to jump in an hour.”

Murdock’s watch read 0840. It would be a night jump, but he wasn’t sure when the plane would be on hand or how long the flight would take to Damascus. They would be ready. He spent the next half hour working on his gear, getting everything set and putting a new edge on his fighting knife with a stone.

Kat came in with her brown eyes blazing.

“What do you mean I’m not going along. Do you see me limping? Can I hold my arms over my head? Why the hell are you grounding me because of a little scratch?”

Murdock laughed. He couldn’t help it. She stood there with her fists set on her slender hips, and that stretched her khaki shirt tight across her breasts. Her face was flushed and wreathed in a tight little frown.

“Don’t laugh at me, Murdock. It makes me all the madder.”

He recovered enough to get his voice working. “Hey, Kat, I’m not laughing at you. It’s just that is exactly the same thing I’ve had a dozen SEALs say to me over the years. Which makes you a SEAL more than you know. You’re thinking SEAL now, even with a shot-up leg and a shoulder wound that’s going to leave a scar. Now, SEAL, drop and give me fifty push-ups.”

Kat gave a long sigh. “Murdock, you know I can’t do that with this fucking shoulder. But that doesn’t mean I can’t jump in with you to Damascus and spike that warhead just the way we did before.”

“We are jumping, SEAL. It will be a HALO operation. That’s a thirty-one-thousand-foot free fall, and it’s going to be cold enough to freeze your nipples off. Why in hell would you want to go?”

“Sir, it’s my job, sir.” She shouted the words, and it made half the platoon turn and look at her. A cheer started halfway down the room, and then exploded all over the place.

“Come on, Cap, let the SEAL go and jump,” somebody called.

“Yeah, besides, I don’t want to be anywhere in Syria if you’re gonna play with that nuke warhead,” Canzoneri yelled.

Kat’s frown faded. She turned and looked at the SEALs. A huge grin blossomed, and through the grin she felt tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Line up, you assholes, I want to hug all of you,” Kat bellowed in a good imitation of a chief’s parade-ground voice. The SEALs responded by cheering and clapping. At last, Murdock pushed up his fist into the air. The room quieted at once.

“Kat, walk over to the door and back.”

She did, wiping away tears of pure joy and waving at the SEALs. She walked without a trace of a limp.

“Now, Kat. Run to the far end of the room and run back.”

Kat did, with only as slight limp on the way back.

Murdock stood there frowning, his arms crossed protectively in front of him. Kat took up the same stance, staring hard at him.

“Kat, you promise me you won’t get shot again, and you’re on the manifest.”

A whoop of delight came from the SEALs, and they waved at Kat and went back to getting their gear ready.

“Now, SEAL, you better get into the proper uniform for the jump. We only have another hour here. Move it.”

Kat grinned and ran toward her quarters to change into desert cammies.

When Murdock had his gear ready, he went to talk to the admiral, who put down the phone as Murdock came to a braced attention in front of his desk.

“At ease, Commander. Sit. We have a C-130 from Rome. It took off twenty minutes ago and should be here in about two hours. We’ll do turnaround service on it and she’ll be ready to go. You’ll want a night drop?”

“Yes, sir. As early after dark as possible. Flight time from here to our DZ should be about two and half hours.”

“What our people figured. Dark this time of year in this zone is around seven o’clock. You’ll be over hostile territory for about fifty miles or six or seven minutes.”

“Let’s have takeoff from here at 1630. That should work, sir.”

“Sounds good to me, Commander. I’ll issue the orders and we’ll get you airborne.”

“What about the Chinese ship, sir?”

“She’s doing a turtle on us. She hasn’t shown her true colors. She’s anchored off a small island in the Aegean Sea about a hundred miles from here. Trying a waiting game. I don’t know why, unless she’s hoping we’ll relax our CAP over her. No chance another chopper is going to get near her.”

“Maybe by the time we’re back from Syria things will have changed. If not we’ll figure out what to do.”

“Good hunting over there, Commander Murdock. I wish we had better intel for you, but you do have one contact. You’ll be in a big-city situation again. Damascus has about two million people.”

“We’ll put on our city manners, sir.” Murdock stood. “If there’s nothing else, Admiral.”

“Dismissed, Commander, and good luck.”

Murdock charged back to the quarters that NATO had made available to them. They had plenty of time before liftoff.

Kat came back ten minutes later dressed and ready. She began to work on her gear, and at once four SEALs came to help her.

“Thanks, guys. I really need this.” Her eyes had lost the anger, and now her face showed excitement, anticipation, and a little bit of fear.

“At least we won’t be jumping into a combat zone,” she said. “I mean, nobody is going to shoot at us as we come down in our chutes.”

“If we’re lucky,” Jack Mahanani said.

Alpha Squad stood around kibitzing. They had just had their turn, and maybe lost a man doing it. Now Bravo would go in on a one-squad operation.

Murdock had changed the weapons assignments. He selected five Bull Pups, one sniper rifle, one 21-E machine gun, and three MP-S5D submachine guns.

An hour before flight time, De Witt had the squad in formation in the workroom and checked them. He made sure the men had the right ammo for their weapons. The Bull Pup shooters each had thirty rounds, a real load of the huge 20mm rounds.

“Anybody not happy with his assigned weapon?” DeWitt asked. Murdock and Kat were at the end of the squad. Kat held up her hand.

“Sir, I’d rather have a Bull Pup,” she said, grinning.

“Sure and two hundred rounds of ammo,” somebody yelped. They all laughed.

“Any other real questions?” DeWitt asked. There were none. “Okay, take a break. We get on the bus to go to the airfield in twenty minutes.”

A half hour later, the SEALs and Kat rattled around in the huge hold of the C-130 like ten peas in a giant peapod. Some of them sat in the fold-down seats along the sides. Three were sacked out on some moving padding blankets on the floor.

It was DeWitt’s operation. Murdock would act as another gun for him, and give advice if asked for it. If they had to split up, he’d con half the force. DeWitt had just come back from the cockpit, where he’d talked with the Air Force captain flying the big plane.

“Captain Rothkind says he’s been on this run before, but with just two CIA guys. He says the best place to jump is about twenty miles from Damascus. Any closer than that and there are suburbs all over the place. He suggests we come down in the countryside out a ways and then make our way into town. That way nobody should report our coming.”

“Agreed,” Murdock said.

“The loadmaster said we’d be using the side doors for jumping, not the fold-down hatch on the back. We’ll hook up just the same and half the squad goes out each side door.”

“Somehow it isn’t the same,” Murdock said, remembering that heart-throttling moment of the first step into space from the ramp.

“Gets the job done,” DeWitt said, and went to check on a loose strap he saw on one of the men.

Kat sat beside Murdock. Her eyes still held the same snap and lightning charge they’d had when she was packing.

“This better than tearing down nose cones in some subbasement somewhere?” Murdock asked.

“A lot better, yes. This is so much more important, vital to the safety and well-being of the world.”

“It’s good to see that there are still some optimists in the world who believe that the good, not the most powerful, will win the day. Now, on the practical side, we’ll be up all night. Might be a good idea to grab a couple hours of sleep.” Murdock frowned. “Oh, you have done free fall before, haven’t you?”

“Absolutely, in training. We went from twelve thousand down to five.”

Murdock winced. “This one will be a little longer, and colder. Be sure you have your face mask, oxygen mask, and gloves on. And keep your glow stick lit so we can find each other. We’ll use oxygen for the first twenty thousand feet or so.”

“Real cold?”

“Extremely cold for about ten thousand feet, then it eases up. It will take us two to three minutes to get to two thousand feet, where our chutes open automatically. If yours doesn’t, pull your emergency chute cord.”

“Have you ever used your emergency?”

“Not so far. Now, get to sleep.”

Murdock closed his eyes, and a moment later a hand touched his arm. He looked that way.

“Hey, super-SEAL. Is it all right if I’m just a little scared?”

Murdock grinned in the darkness of the plane. “Sure, you bet. Wouldn’t be normal if you weren’t.”

“Good.” She hesitated. “I don’t suppose you could put your arm around me and hold me tight for a minute.”

“Not if you’re a SEAL. What would the other guys think?”

“Uh-oh, yeah. I forgot. Right now I’m a SEAL, not a woman. I’ll remember that.” She stopped again, then looked up at his face in the darkness. “Hey, you remember about that rain check?”

“I remember. One of my best memories.”

She smiled. “Good. Now, good night.”

Later, Murdock came awake in a flash. Somebody shook his shoulder.

“Hey, Cap, need some advice.” DeWitt looked down at him. “You awake, Murdock?”

“Almost. What’s the trouble?”

“We just entered Syrian airspace. The captain up front tells me he has some bogies showing on his radar that are headed our way but about fifty miles out. That means they will be keeping company with us in about seven minutes. Close enough for an ID in three when they can fire their missiles. What the hell can we do? The pilot wants to turn back into Israeli airspace.”