Deathrace

23

The helicopter with the Iranian flag on the sides made three sweeps across the barren saddle between the two mountains, hesitated as if for a third look, then drifted to the north and swept down a valley, and out of sight of the seventeen SEALS.

The sixteen men and one woman had plenty of time to hide from the chopper. This was the second time it had been over the area that day. Some SEALs had found crevices to lie in, and simply covered their body and packs with the camouflage cloth made of desert cammies material. It blended in perfectly with the surrounding brown and sandy colors.

Some SEALs had dug out trenches in the shade of the mountain, in a gully on the downslope, leading from the top of the saddle. They dug in and covered up with the camouflage cloth when needed.

Both times the chopper came over, Magic Brown asked for permission to shoot it down with his .50-caliber sniping rifle.

"Come on, L-T, I've got him in my sights. Just one trigger squeeze and he's history."

"So are we, Magic, when they realize there are more than rattlesnakes and scorpions out here in the hills. We don't want to give ourselves away."

"Hell, I know that, Skipper. Just had to ask."

Murdock and Lampedusa had straggled into the position about 0200 and found half the SEALs up and eating.

"It's a two-hour hike into the target," Murdock told those awake. "We'll plan on leaving here about 1700 tomorrow and should get there at first dark."

That had been the plan. Now Murdock watched the chopper vanish over the hill. He had cautioned the men to keep under cover for another ten minutes after the bird left. He could pop up over the edge of the mesa without warning and surprise them.

This time he didn't.

Murdock checked his watch. "No chance we're going to leave here now before it gets dark," he told the troops. "Pass the word. We'll keep secure here until that time. Fucking chopper could check back this way anytime and catch us on the trail."

He looked over at Kat. She had functioned perfectly so far. She had her hole dug and camo ready before half the men did. Of course she had a smaller hole to prepare. She was about ten feet down the gully from him.

"Kat, you might as well have something to eat. Might be some time before we can take a break for food again. Try the chicken A la king."

Kat laughed. "Hey, we had that out at Niland, remember? I think I'll go for the beef stroganoff."

Murdock tore open an MRE and picked out the crackers and peanut butter. He made a cold drink from the powder. He looked over at Douglas, who was nearby. Douglas had a stack of water bottles and food behind him.

"Douglas. How in hell did you get all that stuff in here?"

"Chogie straps, remember them?"

"Never heard of the term."

"Korea. Some of the old Army guys told me about them." He explained how they worked. "We didn't know how long we'd be here or how much water we'd need."

"We might use some of it before we leave. Have all the guys fill up their canteens. Then we're hoping for water at the nuke factory."

They had talked half the morning about the strategy for hitting the big plant. What it came down to was what Lam had suggested the night before.

"So it's set," Murdock had said. "Three of you will work to the west end of the complex. Up at least a quarter of a mile from our attack point."

"Got it," Magic said. "We go on your signal on the Motorola. We keep as many of them occupied up there as long as we can, then we drift south, and give you guys support fire when you're inside the fence."

Kat had talked for more than an hour with Lampedusa. He had described to her as much as he could remember about the worktables, and how far assembled the devices were.

"None had an outside shell on it?" Kat had asked.

"No, none of them. I didn't even see anything that looked like a bomb casing."

"Good. They may not be halfway along. The problem will be finding the plutonium and disposing of it. Wish we had a nice deep oil well we could pour it down."

"We'll figure it out," Lam said.

"If we don't, it stays there in a safe container. I'm not going to scatter it over the hills and kill a few thousand people."

"That's a Roger, Kat. I understand."

At 1930, Murdock had them packed up and ready to go. They all had filled their double canteens. Some of them carried an extra two-quart plastic jug of water that Douglas and Franklin had packed in. Two quarts of water weigh another four pounds.

"Let's use our NVGs," Murdock said. "It helps in this uneven terrain. We'll use regular squad order. Let's move it."

Kat had broken down her tool kit at Murdock's insistence. He had half of it, Kat had a quarter, and Ron Holt, who hiked right behind her, had the other quarter. Kat still had almost forty pounds of gear and ammo.

The first hour went easily. They were more than halfway to the objective, when Murdock called a halt. He went from man to man, checking on assignments, making sure the battle plan was clear to everyone.

An hour later, when they topped the last ridge, and could look directly at the facility, there were soft whistles.

"Big sucker," Magic said.

"Glad we don't have to level the whole thing," Gonzalez said.

They quieted then as Murdock led them down the last slope, and up the next small rise to where the ground had been leveled out for the complex. They lay on a slope about four hundred yards from the fence.

Magic Brown with his big .50-caliber sniper weapon and forty rounds of armor piercing and HE rounds; Harry "Horse" Ronson with his HK machine gun; and Rodolfo Gonzalez with his Colt M-4A1 with grenade launcher, and twenty rounds of the 40mm, moved to the west to set up their diversion.

Everyone had his radio turned on. Murdock called for a quick radio check. Each man reported with his last name, except Kat, who used her first.

"Magic, give me a ready one, when you pick your spot. Keep about twenty yards apart when you start shooting. Hope you get a shot at the chopper. That might be a good time to start this party. Let me know when you get a chopper shot. The bird should come around every half hour."

They left lugging their extra ammo.

Ten minutes later, Murdock heard a ready one in his earpiece. Magic was ready. Murdock had his teams spread out, and ready. Fred Washington, the platoon's second black, would lead the way with his wire cutters, and do a man-sized peel-back on the wire. They knew it wasn't electrified.

Once the fourteen men were through, Washington would temporarily wire the fence closed.

They moved up so they were twenty yards from the fence, and its lights. Murdock had Miguel Fernandez with his HK PSG 1 silenced sniper rifle ready to take out the lights on both sides of the cutting spot. They would do that after Magic had a shot at the chopper.

They all waited.

Ten minutes later, Murdock heard the chopper. He couldn't see it. But Magic could.

"Have target," Magic said in the mike.

A minute later the chopper rose higher, and Magic fired. He worked the bolt, and fired again. He got off three rounds in less than a minute. Now Murdock saw the chopper. It had lifted a hundred feet over the complex. He saw it shudder, then tilt to the right. Another round hit the engine and the whole chopper exploded in one big ball of fire.

At the same time they heard the machine gun rattling away.

A moment later the karumph of the 40mm grenades came as Gonzalez lobbed them into the production facility. Alarms sounded. A loud siren went off.

Murdock touched Fernandez's shoulder, and he settled in aiming at the first light, a standard twenty yards from the entrance point. His silenced round knocked it out. He turned the other way, and with two shots blew out that one.

"Go, Washington," Murdock said into his lip mike. The black SEAL darted forward and worked on the wire. He cut through the chain-link fence, and soon had it high enough so the first man could squeeze through. More followed as Washington cut more links. By the time he had it four feet high, all the SEALs were inside. He bent the chunk of fence down where it had been, and tied it in place with wire twists.

Murdock spread out his men, and moved toward the central building they needed to capture. He could see armed men running to the west. Good. They waited a moment, then moved forward again until they were just outside the wash of the one-story building's lights.

"Hold," Murdock said in the mike. Each of the SEALs had a personal Motorola communications radio for short distances. Each SEAL had an earpiece and a lip mike. The small transceiver unit fastened to their webbing and gave them instant communications with all seventeen men on the team.

"Keep up the pressure, west guys," Murdock said. He now heard return fire at the muzzle flashes from outside the fence.

Murdock watched the building ahead of them. Lampedusa said it was the right one. Two soldiers came out the door and at once ran to the west. Murdock grinned.

The SEALs knew their jobs. Murdock touched his mike. "We three, let's move." Only three of them would go inside and reduce any opposition, then herd all the civilians together. Murdock, Jaybird, and Les Quinley, with his new HK G11 sub-gun that fired caseless bullets, charged across the twenty yards to the building and swung open the unlocked door. The three stormed in. Murdock took the right-hand section. He saw two soldiers, and riddled them with half a dozen silent rounds.

Jaybird had the center section of the big building but found no opposition. When Quinley jolted in the door and checked the left-hand side, he saw three soldiers bringing up their guns. He held the trigger back on the G11 and splattered the three Iranians with twenty rounds. They went down without firing a shot.

Already Murdock had run into the room, and herded six of the civilians ahead of him away from the assembly tables. Jaybird did the same and then Quinley pushed six more toward the far corner. They made the civilians lie on the floor.

Murdock hit his mike again. "Franklin, inside."

Franklin rushed in the door a moment later. "Keep these civvies down on their bellies and quiet. Tell them."

Franklin ran up to the eighteen men and ordered them to lie down and be quiet. He said none of them would be hurt.

"Bring in Kat," Murdock said. The door burst open again, and two SEALs ran inside, then Kat came, and then two more SEALS. They had her tool kits. She hurried to the first assembly table, and nodded.

"Two small charges on this one," she said. Joe Douglas pasted the TNAZ block where she told him. He didn't put in timer/detonators. She ran to the next table. This one was more complete. She took her tool kit and began some disassembly.

"This one is going to take more time," she said into her radio.

"We have a defensive perimeter in front outside," Ed DeWitt said on his mike. "Nobody knows we're down here yet. Lots of action up north. Our men still firing, but it's tapering off."

"Longer we're a secret here, the better," Murdock said. He went back to the outside door and checked. He took two of the inside men and put them in front. There were still five SEALs inside. He saw the other outside door and tried it. Locked. He turned a lever and it came open.

Cautiously he looked outside. Six Iranian soldiers stared at the opening door. Murdock brought up his MP-5 submachine gun on 3-round setting, and cut down three of the men with two bursts. One ran. The other two fumbled for their shouldered weapons. He killed them in a second double burst, then sent six rounds after the runner. He stumbled, but kept on going. Murdock called to the five men inside and put them outside along the building as a back door guard. They would have company soon.

Murdock ran to where Kat worked on the third bomb.

"This one is more complete. I need to do some delicate surgery before it gets blown up. You seen anything that looks like it could hold plutonium?"

"Some big lead box?"

"About the size of it."

"Get a rush on here, Kat. We've just been made out the back door. We'll be having company before long."

"If we can find the plutonium, we'll need transportation to move it. Can we steal a truck or at least a jeep somewhere?"

"I'll put my best car thief on it." He touched his mike. "Douglas, we need a truck or a jeep. Take a man with you and try to bring one back. If it's impossible, tell me. Don't get yourself overmatched and killed out there."

"Will do, L-T. I've got Ching with me. We're gone."

"Magic, how is it going?"

"Down to five rounds. Machine gun ammo almost gone. Out of the forties. Should we pull back?"

"You're taking fire, anybody trying to charge you?"

"So far they're just firing from the sides of buildings, and cars. They like lots of protection. We've got a few rocks."

"Move toward the place where the lights went out along the fence when you need to. Longer you can keep them up there, the better it is for us."

"That's a Roger, L-T."

Murdock ran back to Kat. She was sweating. She finished the fourth bomb partial, and looked at the fifth.

"This one is almost ready for the plutonium to be put in. Glad we got here today. Give me ten minutes."

"We might not have ten. Look at number six."

She checked it. "Good plan, this one is a snap." She showed Al Adams where to put the TNAZ charges on this one, and ran back to number six.

"Found that plutonium yet?" she asked.

Murdock ran to Franklin, and told him to ask the men in Farsi where the plutonium was being kept. He did, but nobody said a word.

He asked the question again. Still silence. He jerked one of the civilians to his feet and put a Colt carbine's muzzle against the man's head. Again he asked them. One man wavered. Franklin moved the carbine, and fired one round through the thigh of the man he held up. The shot civilian screamed, and Franklin dropped him to the floor. He jerked up the man who had seemed about to talk.

"Where?" he asked again. The man shook so hard he couldn't talk. He pointed. Franklin pushed him in that direction. He went to the far end of the building, and showed them a panel on the floor. He caught a ring and pulled. The six-foot-wide panel lifted up on a counterbalance and a steel box, two feet square, rose on some kind of an elevator.

Kat ran up and looked at it.

"Heavy as hell," she said. "Steel box that's lead-lined to hold the plutonium. At least they're protecting it right. Now we need a truck. Look around for a forklift of some kind."

She ran back to the fifth bomb, which she had to work more on.

Murdock heard the firing from the rear. A voice came over the radio.

"L-T, we got a whole shitpot full of Iranians back here just pissed off to hell. Could use some help."

Murdock ran toward the back door, shoving in a new magazine. He went through the door low, and felt bullets whine over his head. He was belly-down behind an old car of some make. Past it he saw flashes from at least a dozen weapons.

"Hold fire," he directed in the mike. "Make the bastards come closer, and get in the light so we don't fire blind. Conserve your ammo. We don't fire blind. Conserve your ammo. We don't have all that much."

The firing continued from the back for a moment, then slackened. Were they going to move forward slowly, or come firing at a run?

"Hey, cowboys, we've got some action out front," Ed DeWitt said. "The jerk in the jeep patrol is driving right up to us. We'll take him out, and try to grab the jeep for Kat. You said you needed transport, right?"

Murdock whispered into his mike. "Yeah, nail the jeep. We also could use three more men back here. The bastards are about to make a charge at us. Get them over here fast. Through the building. Do it now."